THE 

HISTORY 

OF    NATIONS 


IRELAND-SCOTLAND 


H^- 


q 

"? 

•i^ 

a 

^ 

Q 

^ 

ti^ 

■** 

^ 

St 

►-< 

S 

(^ 

•2 

o 

^ 

c^ 

'^ 

"-►-^ 

i^ 

o 

•^ 

cc 

ti; 

^ 

:3; 

h, 

5 

J» 


THE  HISTORY  OF  NATIONS 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,Ph.D.,LL.D.  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 


IRELAND 

by 

PATRICK  W.  JOYCE. LL.D. 

and 

SCOTLAND 

Revised  andEdlted 
by 

AUGUSTUS  HUNTSHLARLRPkD, 

Department  of  History 
Trinity  College 


Volume    XII 


Illustrated 


The  H  .W.  Snow  and  Son  Company 

C  h   i    c    a    9"    o 


Copyright,  1907,  by 
JOHN  D.  AJORRIS  &  COAIPAXY 

Copyright,  1910 
THE  H.  W.  SXOW  &  SON  COMPANY 


THE   HISTORY   OF  NATIONS 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,  Pk.D.,  L.KD. 
Associate  Editors  and  Authors 


ARCHIBALD  HENRY  SAYCE,  LL..D., 

Professor     of     Assyriology,     Oxford     Uni- 
versity 


SIR  ROBERT  K.  DOUGLAS, 

Professor  of  Chinese,  King's  College,  Lon- 
don 


CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSTON,  M.D.,  Ph.D., 

Associate  Professor  of  Oriental  History  and 
Archaeology,  Johns  Hopkins  University 


C.  W.  C.  OMAN,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,  Oxford  University 


JEREMIAH  WHIPPLE  JENKS.  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of   Political   Economy  and   Pol- 
itics, Cornell  University 

KANICHI  ASAKAWA,  Ph.D., 

Instructor    in    the    History    of    Japanese 
Civilization,  Yale  University 


THEODOR  MOMMSEN, 

Late   Professor   of  Ancient    History,    Uni- 
versity of  Berlin 


WILFRED  HAROLD  MUNRO,  Ph.D., 

Professor    of    European    History,    Browp 
University 


G.  MERCER  ADAM, 

Historian  and  Editor 


ARTHUR  C.  HOWLAND,  Ph.D., 

^'s^vlvi'Sia"'  °^  "'''°''''  "^'^^^'^''^  "^  ^""''-        FRED  MORROW  FLING.  Ph.D., 


Professor  of  European  History,  University 
of  Nebraska 


CHARLES  MERIVALE,  LL.D., 

Late   Dean   of   Ely,   formerly   Lecturer  in        FRAN9OIS  AUGUSTE  MARIE  MIGNET. 


History,  Cambridge  University 


Late  Member  of  the  French  Academy 


J.  HIGGINSON  CABOT,  Ph.D., 

Department  of   History,  Wellesley  College 


JAMES  WESTFALL  THOMPSON,  Ph.D., 

Department     of     History,     University    of 
Chicago 


SIR  WILLIAM  W.  HUNTER,  F.R.S., 

Late  Director-General  of  Statistics  in  India 


SAMUEL  RAWSON  GARDINER,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  Modern  History,   King's  Col- 
lege. London 


GEORGE  M.  DUTCHER,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  History,  Wesleyan  University 


R.  W.  JOYCE,  LL.D., 

Commissioner  for   the   Publication   of   the 
Ancient  Laws  of  Ireland 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS  AND   AUTHORS-Continued 


JUSTIN  McCarthy,  ll.d. 

Author  and  Historian 


PAUL  LOUIS  LEGER. 

Professor  of  the  Slav   Languages,  College 
de  France 


AUGUSTUS  HUNT  SHEARER.  Ph.D.. 

Instructor    in     History,     Trinity    College.        WILLIAM  E.  LINGLEBACH.  Ph.D., 

Hartford  Assistant    Professor  of   European   History. 

University  of  Pennsylvania 

W.  HAROLD  CLAFLIN,  B.A., 

Department    of    History.     Harvard     Uni-       BAYARD  TAYLOR, 


versity 


Former  United  States  Minister  to  Germany 


CHARLES  DANDLIKER,  LL.D., 

President  of  Zurich  University 


SIDNEY  B.  FAY.  Ph.D., 

Professor  of   History,    Dartmouth   College 


ELBERT  JAY  BENTON,  Ph.D., 

Department  of   History,   Western  Reserve 

University 


SIR  EDWARD  S.  CREASY, 

Late  Professor  of  History,  University  Col- 
lege, London 


ARCHIBALD  CARY  COOLIDGE,  Ph.D., 

Assistant    Professor    of    History,    Harvard 
Universitv 


WILLIAM  RICHARD  MORFILL,  M.A., 

Professor   of   Russian   and   other   Slavonic 
Languages,  Oxford  University 


CHARLES  EDMUND  FRYER,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,   McGill  University 

E.  C.  OTTE, 

Specialist  on  Scandinavian  History 


J.  SCOTT  KELTIE,  LL.D., 

President  Royal  Geographical  Society 


ALBERT  GALLOWAY  KELLER,  Ph.D., 

Assistant   Professor  of   the   Science   of  So- 
ciety, Yale  University 


EDWARD  JAMES  PAYNE,  M.A., 

Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford 


PHILIP  PATTERSON  WELLS,  Ph.D., 

Lecturer  in   History  and  Librarian  of  the 
Law  School,  Yale  University 


FREDERICK  ALBION  OBER, 

Historian,  Author  and  Traveler 


JAMES  WILFORD  GARNER,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of   Political   Science,   University 
of  Illinois 


EDWARD  S.  CORWIN,  Ph.D., 

Instructor     in     History,     Princeton     Uni- 
versity 


JOHN  BACH  McMASTER,  Litt.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania 


JAMES   LAMONT  PERKINS,   Managing  Editor 


The  editors  and  publishers  desire  to  express  their  appreciation  for  valuable 
advice  and  suggestions  received  from  the  following:  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White, 
LL.D.,  Alfred  Thayer  Mahan,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith, 
LL.D.,  Professor  Edward  Gaylord  Bourne,  Ph.D.,  Charles  F.  Thwing, 
LL.D.,  Dr.  Emil  Reich,  William  Elliot  Griffis,  LL.D.,  Professor  John 
Martin  Vincent,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Melvil  Dewey,  LL.D.,  Alston  Ellis,  LL.D., 
Professor  Charles  H.  McCarthy,  Ph.D.,  Professor  Herman  V.  A.mes,  Ph.D., 
Professor  Walter  L.  Fleming,  Ph.D.,  Professor  David  Y.  Thomas,  Ph.D., 
Mr.  Otto  Reich  and  Mr.  O.  M.  Dickerson. 

vii 


PREFACE 

The  main  part  of  the  history  of  Ireland  in  this  volume  is  by  Patrick 
Weston  Joyce,  LL.D,,  one  of  the  commissioners  for  the  publication 
of  the  ancient  laws  of  Ireland,  and  a  writer  on  education  and  Irish 
history  of  no  mean  repute.  Part  of  his  work  had  to  be  condensed, 
but  his  wording  has  been  left  undisturbed  as  far  as  possible,  and  no 
abridgment  has  been  made  in  the  description  of  any  important  per- 
son, event,  or  measure.  From  the  time  of  William  III.  the  narrative 
has  been  left  almost  intact.  Joyce  is  an  Irishman  and  a  Catholic, 
but  is  eminently  fair  in  his  treatment  of  controverted  points.  He 
says  in  his  own  preface : 

"  In  writing  this  book  I  have  generally  followed  the  plan  of 
weaving  the  narrative  round  important  events  and  leading  person- 
ages. This  method,  while  in  no  degree  interfering  with  the  contin- 
uity of  the  history,  has  enabled  me  to  divide  the  whole  book  into 
short  chapters,  each  forming  a  distinct  narrative  or  story  more  or 
less  complete;  and  it  has  aided  me  in  my  endeavor  to  make  the 
history  of  Ireland  interesting  and  attractive.     .     .     . 

"  Above  all  I  have  tried  to  write  soberly  and  moderately,  avoid- 
ing exaggeration  and  bitterness,  pointing  out  extenuating  circum- 
stances where  it  was  just  and  right  to  do  so,  giving  credit  where 
credit  is  due,  and  showing  fair  play  all  round.  A  writer  may 
accomplish  all  this  while  sympathizing  heartily,  as  I  do,  with  Ireland 
and  her  people.  Perhaps  this  book,  written  as  it  is  in  such  a  broad 
and  just  spirit,  may  help  to  foster  mutual  feelings  of  respect  and 
toleration  among  Irish  people  of  different  parties,  and  may  teach 
them  to  love  and  admire  what  is  great  and  noble  in  their  history, 
no  matter  where  found.  This  indeed  was  one  of  the  objects  I  kept 
steadily  in  view  while  writing  it.  .  .  .  And  the  history  of  Ire- 
land, though  on  the  whole  a  very  sad  history,  abounds  in  records 
of  heroic  deeds  and  heroic  endurance,  like  those  of  Derry  and  Lim- 
erick, which  all  Irish  people  of  the  present  day  ought  to  look  back 
to  with  pride,  and  which  all  young  persons  should  be  taught  to 
reverence  and  admire. 

ix 


X  PREFACE 

"  No  effort  has  been  spared  to  secure  truthfulness  and  accuracy 
of  statement ;  the  utmost  care  has  been  taken  throughout  to  consult 
and  compare  original  authorities;  and  nothing  has  been  accepted 
on  second-hand  evidence. 

"  It  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  say  that,  except  in  the  few  places 
where  I  quote,  the  narrative  all  through  this  book  is  original,  and 
not  made  up  by  adapting  or  copying  the  texts  of  other  modern 
Irish  histories.  For  good  or  for  bad  I  preferred  my  own  way  of 
telling  the  story." 

Joyce's  book  ends  about  the  time  of  the  famine  of  1845- 1846. 
Fortunately  the  last  two  chapters  of  Justin  H.  McCarthy's  "  Ireland 
and  Her  Story  "  cover  the  period  from  the  famine  to  1902  in  excel- 
lent style.  Of  McCarthy  himself  little  need  be  said.  As  an  Irish 
party  leader  of  ability  and  moderation,  he  has  the  esteem  of  most 
Englishmen.  As  a  novelist  he  has  some  reputation,  and  as  a 
historian  he  has  a  large  popular  following.  While  not  deep  or 
searching,  his  wide  personal  acquaintance  and  temperate  statements, 
coupled  with  a  good  style,  render  him  very  readable.  In  his  two 
chapters  here,  his  best  work  is  the  characterization  of  prominent 
men.  Foot-notes  are  added  to  explain  details  of  events  and  meas- 
ures which  McCarthy  hastily  sketches,  and  a  short  account  is  added 
to  bring  the  narrative  down  to  date. 


(W^ 


Trinity  College,  Haetfokd 


gXSL#     v/^«,w>Mr      SLiLJ^'^'^-^ 


CONTENTS 


IRELAND 


CHAPTER  FACE 

I.  The  Country  in  Olden  Times        ....      3 
II.  Literature,  Arts,  and  Buildings  ...       6 

III.  Daily  Life  and  Religion 12 

IV.  Government  and  Law  .         .         .         .         .18 
V.  The  Legends           .......     23 

VI.  St,  Patrick.    403-465  a.  d.      .         .         .  .         -27 

VII.  Progress  of  Religion  and  Learning       .  .         -31 

VIII.  The  Irish  Kings.    463-1022  a.  d.      ,          .  .         .38 

IX.  The  Anglo-Normans.     1022-1175    .          .  .         .46 

X,  Anglo-Irish  Lords,     i  173-1272        .         .  .         .52 

XL  Bruce's  Invasion  and  Internal  Strife.  1315-1377     59 

XII.  Decline  of  English  Rule.    1377-1485      .  .         .67 

XIII.  Accession  of  Henry  VII.    Poynings'  Law.     1485- 

1494 72 

XIV.  The  Geraldines.     1495- 1534  .         ,         .         '7^ 
XV.  Renewal  of  Strife,     i 535-1 560       .         .         .         .82 

XVI.  Two  Rebellions,     i 551- 1583  .         .  .         -87 

XVII.  The  Rebellion  of  Hugh  O'Neill.     1584-1597  .     94 

XVIII.  The  Flight  of  the  Earls  and  Death  of  O'Neill. 

1600-1608  .......    100 

XIX.  Confiscation  of  Lands.     1603-1640  .         .         .   108 

XX.  The  Rebellion  of  1641  .         .         .  .  .114 

XXI.  From  Kilkenny  to  Benburb.     1642-1649  .         .118 

XXII.  Ireland  Under  the  Commonwealth.     1649-1660     .    124 

XXIII.  Ireland  After  the  Restoration.     1660-1688  .    129 

XXIV.  The  Siege  of  Derry.    1689 ^34 

XXV.  The  Battle  of  the  Boyne.    1690    ....    141 

XXVI.  The  Siege  of  Limerick.     1690        ....   144 

XXVII.  Athlone  and  Aughrim.     1691        ....   150 

XXVIII.  Second  Siege  and  Treaty  of  Limerick.     1691-1693  153 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXIX.  The  Penal  Laws.     1695-1714 
XXX.  Trade  Repression.     1663-1800 
XXXI.  Parliamentary  Struggle.     1698- 1757     . 
XXXII.  Discontent  and  Danger,     1757- 1775 

XXXIII.  The  Volunteers.     1775-1779 

XXXIV.  Legislative  Independence.     1780-1783     . 
XXXV.  Grattan's  Parliament.     1783-1785 

XXXVI.  Revival  of  Secret  Societies,     i 785-1 791 
XXXVII.  Catholic  Emancipation.     1792-1795 
XXXVIII.  Riot,  and  Tone's  Invasion.     1795-1797    . 
XXXIX.  The  Rebellion  of  1798 
XL.  The  Union.     1799-1803 
XLI.  Catholic  Emancipation.     1803-1829 
XLII.  Aftermath  of  Emancipation.     1829- 1847 
XLIII.  The  Young  Ireland  Movement 
XLIV.  Home  Rule  ...... 


PAGE 

169 

180 

190 

199 
205 
209 

219 

224 
228 
234 


SCOTLAND 


I.  The  Gaelic  Period         .  .  ,         , 

II.  The  English  Period,     1097-1286     . 

III.  Struggle  for  Independence.     1286-1314 

IV.  The  Independent  Kingdom.     1314-1419 
V.  The  Jameses.     1424-1557 

VI.  The  Reformation.     1557-1603 
Vll.  The  Union  of  the  Crowns.     1603-1707 
VIII.  Discontent  with  the  Union.     1707-1846 

Bibliography  ....... 


247 
261 
271 
282 

291 

311 
332 

360 

381 


Index 


387 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  House  of  Parliament,  Dublin    (Photogravure)  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Facsimile  of  an  Irish  Manuscript,  VIII  Century       .        .  32 

Jonathan  Swift 170 

Thomas  Moore 222 

Daniel  O'Connell 226 

Charles  Stewart  Parnell 236 

The   Clan   of  the   Macdonalds   at   the   Battle  of   Ban- 

nockburn 280 

The  Murder  of  Rizzio  at  Holyrood  Castle          .        .        .  316 

The  Regent  Murray 320 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots 326 

Entry  of  the  Young  Pretender  into  Edinburgh         .        .  366 


TEXT  MAPS 

The  Five  Provinces  of  Ireland 

Ireland,  1550 

Battle  of  Yellow  Ford 

Battle  of  Benburb    . 

Battle  of  the  Boyne 

Battle  of  Limerick   . 

The  British  Isles  in  the  Eighth  Century 

Battle  of  Bannockburn 

Scotland  and  Northern  England.     1715-1745 


PAGE 
22 
81 

97 
121 
142 
147 
251 
279 
361 


xiU 


HISTORY  OF  IRELAND 


HISTORY  OF   IRELAND 

Chapter  I 

THE  COUNTRY  IN  OLDEN  TIMES 

IN  order  that  the  history  of  Ireland,  as  set  forth  in  this  book, 
may  be  clearly  understood,  it  is  necessary,  at  the  outset,  to 
describe  how  the  country  looked  in  early  ages,  and  to  give 
some  information  about  the  daily  life  of  the  people.  The  state  of 
things  pictured  here  in  the  first  few  chapters  existed  in  Ireland  from 
a  period  beyond  the  reach  of  history  down  to  about  three  hundred 
years  ago,  and  partially  much  later,  but  with  many  changes  from 
time  to  time  during  the  long  interval. 

In  olden  times  the  appearance  of  Ireland  was  very  different 
from  what  it  is  at  present.  The  country  was  everywhere  covered 
with  vast  forests ;  there  were  great  and  dangerous  marshes,  quag- 
mires, and  bogs.  As  the  land  of  the  country  was  so  much  encum- 
bered with  trees,  it  was  justly  regarded  as  a  praiseworthy  deed  to 
help  to  clear  spaces  for  tillage;  but  in  later  times  the  forests  were 
cut  down  quickly  enough  for  another  purpose,  to  supply  fuel  for 
smelting  iron,  which  was  a  common  industry  in  Ireland  three  or 
four  hundred  years  ago.  Besides,  there  was  a  regular  export  trade 
in  Irish  oak.  From  all  these  causes  combined  the  great  forests  of 
Ireland  were  gradually  cleared  off  and  finally  disappeared  about  two 
centuries  ago. 

At  intervals  through  the  country  there  were  open  grassy  plains, 
but  they  were  everywhere  surrounded  by  forest  land,  and  broken  up 
and  dotted  over  with  clumps  of  trees  and  brushwood.  The  same 
sparkling  streamlets  without  number  that  still  delight  tis  tumbled 
down  from  the  uplands ;  and  there,  too,  were  the  same  stately  rivers 
and  resounding  waterfalls.  In  many  of  the  rivers  the  pearl  mussel 
was  found,  so  that  Ireland  was  well  known  for  producing  pearls, 
unusually  large  and  of  very  fine  quality;  and  in  some  of  these  same 
rivers  pearls  are  still  found.     There  were  the  same  broad  lakes. 


4  IRELAND 

like  inland  seas,  that  we  see  at  the  present  day;  but  they  were 
generally  larger,  and  were  surrounded  with  miles  of  reedy  mo- 
rasses. 

Minerals  there  were,  too,  in  sufficient  quantity  to  give  rise  to 
many  industries.  The  remains  of  ancient  mines,  of  copper,  coal, 
and  other  minerals,  with  many  rude  antique  mining  tools,  have  been 
found  in  recent  times  in  some  parts  of  Ireland.  Chief  among  the 
metals  were  gold,  iron,  and  copper. 

Wild  animals  abounded  everywhere, — foxes,  savage  dogs,  and 
otters.  Wolves  became  so  numerous  and  dangerous  that  the  people 
kept  a  special  breed  of  dogs,  Irish  wolf-dogs,  to  hunt  them  down. 
There  were  plenty  of  wildcats,  and  swine,  both  domestic  and  wild, 
and  wild  boars.  The  open  pasture  lands  were  grazed  by  herds  of 
cows,  sheep,  and  goats,  which  at  a  very  ancient  period  were  all  wild ; 
but  the  domesticated  animals  gradually  took  their  place  as  the  popu- 
lation increased  and  extended.  Then  lived  the  Irish  elk,  a  gigantic 
deer  with  great  branching  solid  antlers,  compared  with  which  the 
largest  of  our  present  deer  are  mere  dwarfs.  We  know  that  bears 
were  there,  too,  for  we  still  find  their  bones  in  caverns.  Myriads 
of  noisy  sea-fowl  circled  and  screamed  and  fished  all  round  the 
coasts  and  swarmed  on  the  cliffs,  among  them  the  strong  and  grace- 
ful sea-eagle;  for  the  sea,  as  well  as  the  lakes  and  rivers,  teemed 
with  fish.  The  goshawks,  or  falcons,  were  found  in  abundance, 
and  were  much  famed  on  the  Continent. 

The  country,  from  the  earliest  times,  was  noted  for  its  abun- 
dance of  honey,  for  bees,  both  wild  and  domestic,  swarmed  every- 
where. But  there  were  no  snakes  or  toads.  We  have  now  plenty 
of  frogs;  but  the  first  ever  seen  in  Ireland,  of  which  there  is  any 
record,  was  found  near  Waterford  toward  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century.  As  the  population  of  the  country  increased,  the  cultivated 
land  increased  in  proportion.  But  until  a  late  time,  there  were  few 
inhabited  districts  that  were  not  within  view,  or  within  easy  reach, 
of  unreclaimed  waste  lands — forest,  or  bog,  or  moorland;  so  that 
the  people  had  much  ado  to  protect  their  crops  and  flocks  from  the 
inroads  of  wild  animals. 

All  round  near  the  coast  ran,  then  as  now,  the  principal  moun- 
tain ranges,  with  a  great  plain  in  the  middle.  The  air  was  soft  and 
moist,  perhaps  even  more  moist  than  at  present,  on  account  of  the 
great  extent  of  forest.  The  cleared  land  was  exceedingly  fertile, 
and  was  well  watered  with  springs,  streamlets,  and  rivers,  not  only 


OLDEN     TIMES  5 

among  the  mountainous  districts,  but  all  over  the  central  plain. 
Pasture  lands  were  luxuriant  and  evergreen,  inviting  flocks  and 
herds  without  limit. 

From  the  foregoing  sketch  it  will  be  seen  that  Ireland,  so  far 
as  it  was  brought  under  cultivation  and  pasture  in  those  early  days, 
was — ^as  the  Venerable  Bede  calls  it — a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey,  a  pleasant,  healthful,  and  fruitful  land,  well  fitted  to  maintain 
a  prosperous  and  contented  people. 


Chapter  II 

LITERATURE,    ARTS,   AND    BUILDINGS. 

LEARNING  of  all  kinds  was  held  in  great  estimation  by  the 
ancient  Irish,  especially  history,  poetry,  and  romantic  tales. 
^  Most  of  their  lore  was  written  down  in  books;  for  after  the 
time  of  St.  Patrick  everything  that  was  considered  worthy  of  being 
preserved  was  committed  to  writing,  so  that  manuscripts  gradually 
accumulated  all  through  the  country.  But  in  the  dark  time  of  the 
Danish  ravages,  and  during  the  troubled  centuries  that  followed 
the  Anglo-Norman  invasion,  the  manuscript  collections  were  gradu- 
ally dispersed,  and  a  large  proportion  lost  or  destroyed.  Yet  we 
have  remaining — rescued  from  the  general  wreck — a  great  body  of 
manuscript  literature.  The  two  most  important  collections  are  those 
in  Trinity  College  and  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  Dublin,  where 
there  are  manuscripts  of  various  ages,  from  the  sixth  down  to  the 
present  century.  There  are  also  many  important  Irish  manuscripts 
in  the  British  Museum  in  London,  and  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford.  Great  numbers,  too,  are  preserved  in  Continental  libraries, 
where  they  were  written,  or  to  which  they  were  brought  from 
Ireland,  by  those  Irish  missionaries  who  frequented  the  Continent 
in  early  ages. 

A  favorite  occupation  of  some  of  the  monks  of  old  was  copy- 
ing tlie  Gospels  or  other  portions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  always  in 
Latin,  and  there  are  many  beautiful  specimens  extant.  Before  the 
invention  of  printing  it  was  customary  in  Ireland  for  individuals, 
or  families,  or  religious  communities,  to  keep  large  manuscript 
books  of  miscellaneous  literature.  In  these  were  written  such  liter- 
ary pieces  as  were  considered  worthy  of  being  preserved  in  writ- 
ing— tales,  poems,  biographies,  histories,  annals,  and  so  forth — all 
mixed  up  in  one  volume,  and  almost  always  copied  from  older 
books.  These  books  were  very  valuable  and  were  to  be  found  only 
in  the  monastery  libraries  or  houses  of  kings  and  chiefs,  or  learned 
men. 

The  oldest  of  all  these  books  of  miscellaneous  literature  is  the 
"  Book  of  the  Dun  Cow,"  now  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  Dublin. 

6 


ARTS     AND     BUILDINGS  7 

It  was  written — copied  from  older  books — by  Mailmurry  Mac 
Kelleher,  a  learned  scribe,  who  died  in  Clonmacnoise  in  the  year 
1106.  As  it  now  stands  it  consists  of  only  134  large  vellum  pages, 
a  mere  fragment  of  the  original  work.  The  "  Book  of  Leinster," 
which  is  kept  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  is  the  largest, 
though  not  the  oldest,  of  all  the  ancient  Irish  manuscript  volumes. 
It  is  an  immense  book  of  410  vellum  pages,  written  in  or  about 
the  year  11 60,  containing  nearly  one  thousand  pieces  of  various 
kinds,  some  in  prose,  some  in  poetry,  nearly  all  about  Irish  affairs. 
Other  old  books  are  the  "  Speckled  Book  "  of  Mac  Egan,  almost  as 
large  as  the  "  Book  of  Leinster,"  consisting  chiefly  of  religious 
pieces,  the  "  Book  of  Ballymote,"  the  "  Book  of  Lecan  "  [Leckan], 
and  the  "  Yellow  Book  of  Lecan,"  which  are  all  in  Dublin,  and 
contain  a  vast  amount  of  ancient  Irish  lore.  Much  of  the  contents 
of  these  books  has  been  published  and  translated :  but  by  far  the 
greatest  part  still  remains  locked  up  in  the  Irish  language,  waiting 
to  be  dealt  with  by  the  loving  labor  of  Irish  scholars. 

The  Irish  chroniclers  were  very  careful  to  record  in  their  annals 
remarkable  occurrences  of  their  own  time,  or  past  e\ents  as  handed 
down  to  them  by  former  chroniclers.  These  Annals  are  among  the 
most  important  of  the  ancient  manuscript  writings  for  the  study 
of  Irish  history.  The  most  extensive  and  valuable  of  all  are  the 
"Annals  of  the  Four  Masters."  They  were  compiled  in  the  Fran- 
ciscan Monastery  of  Donegal,  from  older  authorities,  by  three  of 
the  O'Clerys,  a  learned  family  of  laymen,  hereditary  ollaves  or 
professors  of  history  to  the  O'Donnells  of  Tirconncll,  and  by  a 
fourth  scholar  named  O'Mulconry.  These  are  now  commonly 
known  as  the  "  Four  Masters."  They  began  the  work  in  1632  and 
completed  it  in  1636. 

We  have  also  preser\ed  a  vast  body  of  medical  manuscripts, 
which  originated  in  the  following  manner.  There  were  profes- 
sional physicians  or  leeches  in  Ireland  from  the  very  beginning  of 
society,  who,  like  the  Brehons,  had  to  undergo  a  long  course  of 
training,  and  like  them  kej^t  books  for  reference,  some  in  Irish  and 
some  in  Latin.  In  Ireland,  the  professions,  as  for  instance  those 
of  Histoiy,  Poetry,  and  Law,  commonly  ran  in  families:  and 
many  Irish  families  were  distinguished  physicians  for  generations, 
such  as  the  O'Shiels,  the  O'Cassidys,  the  O'Hickeys,  and  the  O'Lees, 
of  whom  the  fame  of  some  had  reached  the  Continent.  Each 
family  kept  a  medical  book,  the  collected  experience  and  wisdom  of 


8  IRELAND 

ages,  which  was  handed  down  reverently  from  father  to  son.  A 
vast  number  of  these  books  are  preserved  in  libraries;  and  there 
are  probably  more  old  medical  manuscripts  in  existence  written 
by  Irish  doctors  than  there  are  belonging  to  any  other  country. 

There  were  hospitals  even  in  pagan  times.  In  later  ages  most 
of  them  were  in  connection  with  monasteries :  but  some  were  secu- 
lar, and  came  under  the  Brehon  Law,  which  laid  down  regulations 
for  them,  especially  as  regarded  cleanliness  and  ventilation.  The 
poor  were  received  free  in  all  hospitals,  but  those  who  could  afford 
it  were  expected  to  pay  for  food,  medicine,  and  the  attendance  of 
the  doctor. 

Of  all  our  manuscript  remains  romantic  literature  is  the  most 
abundant.  It  consists  of  stories,  some  very  long,  some  short,  chiefly 
in  prose,  but  often  mixed  up  with  poetry,  nearly  all  of  them  about 
Irish  historical  personages,  or  founded  on  Irish  historical  events. 

In  Ireland  art  was  practiced  in  four  different  branches: 
ornamentation  and  illumination  of  manuscript  books,  metal  work, 
sculpture,  and  building.  Art  of  every  kind  reached  its  highest 
perfection  in  the  period  between  the  end  of  the  ninth  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  twelfth  centuiy;  after  which  all  cultivation  degen- 
erated on  account  of  the  Danish  irruptions  and  the  Anglo-Norman 
invasion. 

As  all  the  books  were  written  by  hand,  penmanship  as  an  art 
was  carefully  cultivated,  and  was  brought  to  great  perfection.  The 
old  scribes  of  Ireland,  who  were  generally,  but  not  always,  monks, 
and  were  held  in  great  honor,  had  a  method  of  ornamentation  not 
used  by  scribes  of  other  countries.  Several  of  the  highly  orna- 
mented books  are  still  preserved,  of  which  the  most  remarkable  is 
the  "  Book  of  Kells."  It  is  a  copy  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Latin ; 
and  for  beauty  of  execution  no  otlier  book  in  any  part  of  the  world 
can  compare  with  it.  The  "  Book  of  Armagh,"  containing,  among 
many  other  pieces,  a  life  of  St.  Patrick  and  a  complete  copy  of 
the  New  Testament  in  Latin,  is  almost  as  beautifully  written  as  the 
"  Book  of  Kells." 

The  Irish  artists  in  metal  work  were  quite  as  skillful  as  the 
scribes  were  in  penmanship.  The  ornamental  patterns  were  gen- 
erally similar  to  those  used  in  manuscripts,  consisting  of  the  same 
beautiful  curves  with  interlacements ;  and  the  materials  employed 
were  gold,  si]\er,  bronze  of  a  whitish  color,  gems,  and  enamel. 
A  great  number  of  the  lovely  articles  made  by  those  accomplished 


ARTS     AND     BUILDINGS  9 

artists  have  been  found  from  time  to  time,  of  which  the  most  re- 
markable and  beautiful  are  the  Cross  of  Cong,  the  Ardagh  Chalice, 
and  the  Tara  Brooch,  all  now  to  be  seen  in  the  National  Museum 
in  Dublin. 

From  very  early  times  the  Irish  were  celebrated  for  their  skill 
in  music;  and  Irish  professors  and  teachers  of  music  were  almost 
as  much  in  request  in  foreign  countries  as  those  of  literature. 
Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  seldom  had  a  good  word  for  anything 
Irish,  speaks  of  the  Irish  harpers  of  his  time — the  twelfth  century 
— as  follows :  "  They  are  incomparably  more  skillful  than  any 
other  nation  I  have  ever  seen.  It  is  astonishing  that  in  so  complex 
and  rapid  a  movement  of  the  fingers  the  musical  proportions  [as 
to  time]  can  be  preserved ;  and  that  the  harmony  is  completed  with 
such  a  sweet  rapidity."  We  still  possess  great  numbers  of  the 
lovely  airs  composed  by  the  old  Irish  musicians;  and  many  songs 
have  been  written  to  them,  the  best  of  which  are  those  by  Thomas 
Moore.  The  harp  was  the  favorite  instrument  among  the  higher 
classes  of  people,  many  of  whom  played  on  it,  merely  for  pleasure. 
But  the  lower  classes  loved  the  bagpipes  better.  Soldiers  com- 
monly marched  to  battle  inspirited  by  the  martial  strains  of  one 
or  more  pipers  marching  at  their  head,  a  custom  retained  to  this 
day,  especially  among  the  Scotch. 

Dwelling  houses  were  mostly  of  a  round  shape,  generally  made 
of  wood,  very  seldom  of  stone.  The  wall  was  very  high,  and  was 
formed  of  long  peeled  poles  standing  pretty  near  each  other,  with 
their  ends  fixed  deep  in  the  ground  ;  and  the  spaces  between  were 
closed  in  with  wickerwork  of  peeled  rods  and  twigs.  The  whole 
was  smoothly  plastered  and  made  brilliantly  white  with  lime  on 
the  outside:  though  some  houses  were  fancifully  painted  all  over 
in  bands  of  bright  colors ;  and  in  some  again  the  white  wickerwork 
was  left  uncovered  on  the  outside.  The  top  was  cone-shaped,  and, 
like  English  houses  of  corresponding  periods,  thatched  with  straw 
or  rushes,  with  an  opening  to  serve  as  chimney.  The  fire  was  kept 
burning  in  the  middle  of  the  floor :  but  in  all  large  houses  there 
was  a  special  kitchen  for  cooking.  When  Henry  II.  was  in  Dublin 
in  1 171  he  had  a  splendid  house  of  this  kind  erected,  in  which  he 
spent  the  Christmas  in  great  state.  Families  in  good  circumstances 
had  two  or  three  of  these  round  structures  beside  each  other,  form- 
ing several  rooms ;  but  the  poorer  people  had  only  one.  In  large 
houses,  tlie  door-jambs,  bed-posts,  etc.,  were  often  of  yew-wood, 


10  IRELAND 

curiously  carved.  The  family  commonly  lived,  ate,  and  slept  in 
one  large  apartment,  the  beds  being  placed  round  the  wall,  and 
separated  by  boarded  partitions ;  but  we  often  find  mention  of  sepa- 
rate bedrooms  for  different  members  of  the  family,  and  for  guests. 
A  bath  in  a  special  bathroom  was  quite  usual.  In  houses  of  the 
better  class  the  women  had  one  apartment  for  themselves  called  a 
greenan,  that  is,  a  "  sunny-house,"  in  the  most  lightsome  part  of 
the  building. 

As  a  defense  against  wild  beasts  or  robbers,  each  house  was 
surrounded  with  a  high  embankment  of  earth,  having  a  strong 
close  hedge  of  thorns  or  a  palisade  of  stakes  on  top,  outside  of  which 
was  a  deep  trench  often  filled  with  water.  This  inclosure  with  its 
surrounding  rampart  was  called  a  rath  or  lis.  Sometimes  a  whole 
group  of  houses  stood  within  one  large  rath.  For  greater  security, 
dwellings  were  often  constructed  on  artificial  islands  made  with 
stakes,  trees,  and  bushes,  in  shallow  lakes ;  these  were  called  cran- 
noges.  Communication  with  the  shore  was  carried  on  by  means  of 
a  small  boat  kept  on  the  island.  Crannoge  dwellings  were  in  pretty 
general  use  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  remains  of  many 
of  them  are  still  to  be  seen  in  our  lakes. 

The  dwelling  of  a  king,  which  was  commonly  called  a  dun 
[doon],  was  fortified  with  two  or  three  sets  of  surrounding  ram- 
parts and  trenches,  and  there  was  often  a  high  mound  in  the  center, 
flat  on  top  for  the  house  or  fortress  of  the  king.  The  remains  of 
these  old  palaces  may  still  be  seen  at  most  of  the  ancient  royal 
residences ;   as  for  instance  at  Tara.  Emain,  and  Rathcroghan. 

Sometimes  the  rampart  surrounding  the  dwellings  was  a  wall 
of  stone  without  mortar :  for  the  use  of  mortar  was  not  known 
in  Ireland  till  after  the  time  of  St.  Patrick;  and  they  built  in  dry 
masonry  like  the  very  early  Greeks.  These  circular  stone  fortresses, 
which  are  built  with  much  rude  art — the  stones  fitting  all  through 
with  great  exactness — are  called  cahers  and  sometimes  cashels. 

There  are  now  no  traces  left  of  the  wooden  houses  erected 
in  any  of  these  old  forts ;  but  the  raths,  lisses,  duns,  cahers,  cashels, 
and  mounds  are  still  to  be  seen  in  every  part  of  Ireland,  and  are 
called  by  these  names.  Circular  houses  within  circular  forts  gradu- 
ally gave  place  to  the  four-cornered  houses  that  we  have  at  present, 
but  they  continued  in  use  till  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century. 

The  ancient  Irish  buried  their  dead  in  three  different  ways, 
of  which  the  most  usual  was  depositing  the  body  in  the  grave  as 


ARTS     AND     BUILDINGS  11 

at  present.  Sometimes  the  body. of  a  king,  or  great  warrior,  or 
other  notable  person,  was  placed  standing  up  in  the  grave,  fully 
dressed  in  battle  array,  with  sword  in  hand,  and  with  his  face  turned 
towards  the  territory  of  his  enemies.  The  pagan  Irish  believed 
that  while  the  body  of  their  king  remained  in  this  position  it  exer- 
cised a  malign  influence  on  their  enemies,  who  were  thereby  always 
defeated  in  battle.  Owen  Bel,  king  of  Connaught,  when  dying  of 
a  wound  received  in  a  battle  fought  near  Sligo  against  the  Ulster- 
men  in  537  A.  D.,  said  to  his  people :  "  Bury  me  with  my  red 
javelin  in  my  hand  on  the  side  of  the  hill  by  which  the  Northerns 
pass  when  fleeing  before  the  arm}^  of  Connaught,  and  place  me  with 
my  face  turned  toward  them  in  my  grave."  And  this  was  done, 
and  the  Ulstermen  were  always  routed  after  that;  till  at  last  they 
came  and  removed  the  body  to  another  grave,  placing  it  head  down- 
ward, which  broke  the  baleful  spell. 

Very  often  the  body  was  burned,  and  the  ashes  were  placed  in 
an  ornamental  urn  of  baked  clay.  We  know  this  custom  was  very 
general  in  Ireland,  because  urns  containing  ashes  and  half-burned 
human  bones  are  very  often  found  in  old  graves.  Sometimes  the 
body  or  urn  was  placed  in  what  we  now  call  a  cromlech,  formed 
of  several  large  upright  stones  supporting  on  top  one  immense  flat 
stone,  so  as  to  enclose  a  rude  chamber.  A  cromlech  was  much  the 
same  as  the  flat  tombs  in  churchyards  of  the  present  day.  except 
that  the  stones  were  much  larger,  and  were  in  their  rough  state, 
without  being  hammered  or  chiseled  into  shape.  ]Many  of  these 
cromlechs  still  remain,  and  are  often  called  by  the  people  '*  Giants* 
Graves."  Often  a  great  mound  of  stones  called  a  cairn  was  heaped 
over  the  grave.  A  burial  mound  has  no  ramparts  round  it;  and 
by  this  it  may  generally  be  distinguished  from  the  mound  of  a 
dun  or  fortress. 


Chapter    III 

DAILY   LIFE   AND   RELIGION' 

AT  the  regular  meals  the  whole  household  sat  in  one  large 
/-\      room,  the  chief  and  his  family  and  distinguished  guests 
X    jL   at  the  head,  and  the  rest  of  the  company  ranged  downward 
in  order  of  rank. 

For  food,  the  higher  classes  used  the  flesh  of  wild  and  domestic 
animals,  boiled  or  roasted,  much  as  at  the  present  day,  with  wheaten 
bread.  The  main  food  of  the  general  body  of  the  people  consisted 
of  various  kinds  of  bread  baked  on  a  griddle;  milk,  curds,  cheese, 
butter;  fish  and  fruit;  and,  for  those  who  could  afford  it,  pork 
and  bacon.  Pork  was  a  favorite  food  among  all  classes.  Oatmeal 
porridge,  or  stirabout,  as  it  is  called  in  Ireland,  was  in  very  general 
use,  especially  for  children,  and  was  eaten  with  milk,  butter,  or 
honey.  The  Irish  rivers  abounded  then  as  now  in  salmon,  a  food 
which  was  in  great  request. 

There  v^'as  then  no  sugar,  and  honey  was  greatly  valued,  bee- 
hives were  kept  everywhere ;  and  the  management  of  bees  was  con- 
sidered such  an  important  industry  that  a  special  section  of  the 
Brehon  Laws  is  devoted  to  it.  At  table  a  little  dish,  sometimes  of 
silver,  filled  with  honey,  was  put  beside  the  plate,  and  each  morsel, 
whether  meat,  fish,  or  bread,  was  dipped  into  it  before  being  con- 
veyed to  the  mouth.  For  drink,  they  had — besides  plain  water 
and  milk — ale,  mead,  and  frequently  wine  brought  from  the  Con- 
tinent :  for  in  those  early  days  there  was  considerable  trade  with 
France  and  other  continental  countries.  The  people  often  mixed 
honey  with  milk,  either  sweet  or  sour,  for  drinking.  From  honey 
also  w'as  made  a  kind  of  liquor  called  mead,  very  sweet  and  slightly 
intoxicating.  This  was  considered  a  delicacy;  and  a  visitor  was 
often  treated  to  a  drink  of  mead  immediately  on  arrival. 

People  of  the  higher  classes  often  drank  from  a  beautiful 
horn  of  elaborate  and  costly  workmanship.  A  much  more  common 
drinking  vessel  was  wliat  was  called  a  mether  (from  mead),  made 
of  wood,  with  one,  two,  or  four  handles,  which  circulated  from 

13 


LIFE    AND     RELIGION  13 

hand  to  hand,  each  passing  it  to  his  neighbor  after  taking  a  drink. 
In  every  great  house  there  was  at  least  one  large-sized  caldron 
which  was  kept  in  continual  use  boiling  food,  so  that  guests  might 
be  hospitably  entertained  whenever  they  happened  to  arrive. 

At  intervals  through  the  country  there  were  houses  of  public 
hospitality — open  brudins  or  hostels — where  all  travelers  who  called, 
and  also  certain  important  persons,  such  as  kings,  chiefs,  bishops, 
and  brehons,  when  on  their  circuits,  were  entertained  free  of  ex- 
pense. The  keeper  of  one  of  these  houses  was  called  a  brugaid 
[broo-ee],  i.  e.,  a  public  hostel-keeper:  and  sometimes  a  beetagh. 
He  was  held  in  great  honor;  and  he  had  a  tract  of  land,  besides 
other  large  allowances,  to  enable  him  to  maintain  his  expensive 
establishment. 

Small  corn  mills  driven  by  water  were  used  in  Ireland  from 
very  remote  ages.  In  early  Christian  times  almost  every  monastery 
had  a  mill  attached  to  it  for  the  use  of  the  community.  In  most 
houses  there  was  a  quern  or  handmill,  which  was  commonly  worked 
by  women,  who  each  evening  ground  corn  enough  for  next  day. 
Querns  continued  in  use  down  to  our  time  in  remote  parts  of 
Ireland. 

For  light  they  had  dipped  candles,  which  were  held  in  candle- 
sticks, sometimes  with  branches.  The  poorer  classes  used  peeled 
rushes  soaked  in  grease,  as  we  sometimes  see  at  the  present  day. 
As  bees  were  so  abundant,  beeswax,  as  might  be  expected,  was 
turned  to  account.  In  some  of  our  old  records  we  find  wax  candles 
mentioned  as  being  used  in  the  houses  of  the  richer  classes  (in 
Dinnree  for  instance)  long  before  the  fifth  century.  For  a  king, 
it  was  customary  to  make  an  immense  candle,  sometimes  as  thick 
as  a  man's  body,  with  a  great  bushy  wick,  which  was  always  kept 
burning  in  his  presence  at  night.  In  the  palace  it  was  placed  high 
over  his  head;  during  war  it  blazed  outside  his  tent  door;  and  on 
night  marches  it  was  borne  before  him.  As  there  were  forests  and 
thickets  everywhere,  wood  was  tlie  most  used  fuel,  but  dried  peat 
cut  from  bogs  was  also  burned,  and  coal  and  charcoal  were  used 
by  smiths  and  other  metal-workers. 

In  ordinary  outdoor  life  the  men  wore  a  large  loose  frieze 
mantle  or  overall,  which  was  often  so  long  as  to  cover  them  down 
to  the  ankles.  Among  the  rich  it  was  usually  of  fine  clotli,  often 
variegated  with  scarlet  and  other  brilliant  colors  and  fastened  at 
the  throat  \\il1i  a  lipaiititnl  brrmrli. 


14  IRELAND 

Well-dressed  people  wore  inside  this  a  shorter  tight-fitting  gar- 
ment, generally  reaching  to  the  middle  of  the  thigh,  but  often  1)elow 
the  knee,  plaited  up  and  down  and  fastened  at  the  waist  hy  a  belt. 
This  was  sometimes  dyed  in  color.  A  single  short  mantle,  always 
dyed  in  color,  and  sometimes  furnished  with  a  hood,  was  also  much 
worn.  The  trousers  were  tight  fitting;  the  cap  was  usually  cone- 
shaped  and  without  a  leaf.  But  the  common  people  generally  went 
bareheaded,  wearing  the  hair  long,  hanging  down  behind,  and 
clipped  in  front  just  above  the  eyes.  The  shoes  or  sandals  were 
mostly  of  untanned  hide  stitched  with  thongs,  but  some  times  of 
tanned  leather  curiously  stamped  or  engraved.  Occasionally  the 
ladies  of  higher  families  wore  sandals  of  whitish  bronze  highly  orna- 
mented. In  early  times  gloves  were  common  among  the  higher 
classes. 

The  women  generally  wore  variously-colored  tunics  down  to 
the  very  feet,  with  many  folds  and  much  material — twenty  or  thirty 
yards — under  which  was  a  long  gown  or  kirtle.  Linen,  whether 
used  by  men  or  women,  was  dyed  saffron.  The  married  women  had 
a  kerchief  on  the  head ;  the  unmarried  girls  went  bare-headed,  with 
the  hair  either  folded  up  neatly  or  hanging  down  on  the  back.  They 
took  much  care  of  the  hair,  and  used  combs,  some  of  them  very 
ornamental.  The  higher  classes  were  fond  of  gold  ornaments,  such 
as  brooches,  bracelets  for  the  arms,  rings,  necklaces,  twisted  torques 
or  collars  to  be  worn  round  the  neck,  or  bright  rich-looking  clasps 
to  confine  the  hair.  Other  ornamental  articles  were  made  of  silver 
or  white  bronze,  enameled  in  various  colors,  and  set  with  gems.  A 
great  number  of  these,  many  of  most  beautiful  workmanship,  are 
preserved  in  the  National  Museum  in  Dublin.  One  torque  of  pure 
gold  found  near  Tara.  measures  five  and  a  half  feet  in  length,  and 
weighs  twenty-seven  and  a  half  ounces. 

It  was  the  custom  to  hold  fair-meetings  in  various  places  for 
the  transaction  of  important  business,  sometimes  once  a  year,  some- 
times once  in  three  years.  The  most  important  of  all  was  the  Fes 
of  Tara.  Very  important  yearly  meetings  were  held  at  the  Hill  of 
Ward  (Tlachtga)  near  Athboy  in  !^Ieath ;  at  the  Hill  of  Ushnagh 
in  W'estmeath ;  and  at  Tailltenn,  now  Teltown.  on  the  Blackwater 
l)etween  Navan  and  Kells  in  Meath.  This  last  was  the  great  na- 
tional assembly  for  horse  races  and  all  kinds  of  athletic  games  and 
exercises.  A  triennial  meeting  was  held  at  Wexford,  and  there 
were  fair-meetings  in  numberless  other  places.    At  these  assemblies 


LIFE    AND     RELIGION  16 

laws  were  proclaimed  to  keep  them  before  the  minds  of  the  people, 
taxes  were  arranged,  pastimes  and  athletic  sports  were  carried  on, 
as  well  as  buying  and  selling  as  we  see  at  fairs  of  the  present  day. 

In  those  times,  so  very  few  were  able  to  read  that  for  all  in- 
formation and  amusement  to  be  derived  from  books  the  people  had 
to  depend  on  professional  storytellers  and  poets,  who  often  traveled 
from  place  to  place  and  earned  a  good  livelihood  by  their  profes- 
sion. And  as  soon  as  one  stood  up,  these  rough  men  ceased  their 
noisy  revels,  and  listened  with  rapt  delight  to  some  tale  of  the 
heroes  of  old.  A  harper  was  often  present,  who  charmed  the  com- 
pany with  his  beautiful  Irish  airs ;  or  if  it  was  a  gathering  of  the 
lower  classes,  more  likely  a  piper.  Chess-playing  was  a  favorite 
pastime  of  kings  and  chiefs. 

Fosterage  prevailed  from  the  remotest  period,  and  was  prac- 
ticed by  persons  of  all  classes,  but  more  especially  by  those  of  the 
higher  ranks.  A  man  sent  his  child  to  be  reared  and  educated 
in  the  home  and  with  the  family  of  another  member  of  the  tribe, 
who  then  became  foster-father,  and  his  sons  and  daughters  the 
foster-brothers  and  foster-sisters  of  the  cliild.  Fosterage,  which 
was  the  closest  tie  between  families,  was  subject  to  strict  regula- 
tions, which  were  carefully  set  forth  in  the  Brehon  Law. 

When  a  man  stood  sponsor  for  a  child  at  baptism,  he  became 
the  child's  godfather,  and  gossip  to  the  parents:  this  was  called 
gossipred.  It  was  regarded  as  a  sort  of  religious  relationship 
between  families,  and  created  mutual  obligations  of  regard  and 
friendship. 

There  were  five  great  highways  leading  in  five  different  direc- 
tions through  Ireland  from  Tara,  and  besides  these  there  were 
numerous  others,  so  that  the  country  seems  to  have  been  very  fairly 
provided  with  roads.  Stone  bridges  were  not  then  used  in  Ireland, 
but  there  were  many  constructed  of  timber  planks  or  rough  tree- 
trunks.  Rivers,  however,  were  very  generally  crossed  by  wading 
tlirough  fords  where  the  stream  spread  out  broad  and  shallow,  and 
often  by  swimming,  for  most  young  persons  were  taught  to  swim 
as  a  regular  part  of  their  education. 

Chariots  were  used  both  in  private  life  and  in  war.  The  early 
Irish  saints  commonly  tra\"e]ecl  in  chariots  when  on  their  long 
missionary  journeys.  Hie  battle  cliariots  were  open,  and  were 
furnished  with  spikes  and  scythe-blades  for  driving  through  the 
ranks  of  the  enemy.     Horses  were  used  a  good  deal  by  the  higher 


16  IRELAND 

classes.  The  men  rode  without  saddle  or  stirrup ;  and  were  trained 
to  vault  into  their  seat  from  either  side,  right  or  left.  Low  benches 
were  common  on  the  roadsides  to  enable  old  or  infirm  persons  to 
mount. 

The  Irish  had  three  kinds  of  boats :  small  sailing  vessels,  with 
which  oars  were  employed  when  the  wind  failed;  canoes  of  one 
piece  hollowed  out  from  the  trunks  of  trees,  which  were  chiefly  used 
on  lakes;  and  currachs,  that  is,  wickerwork  boats  covered  with 
hides. 

The  religion  of  the  pagan  Irish,  it  is  commonly  understood,  was 
Druidism.  But  although  our  old  books  speak  very  often  of  this 
Druidism,  they  do  not  give  us  any  clear  idea  of  what  sort  of  relig- 
ion it  was.  There  were  persons  called  druids,  who  were  learned 
men,  the  only  men  of  those  times  that  had  any  learning,  and  as  all 
learned  professions  were  then  usually  combined  in  the  one  person, 
every  druid  was  also  a  physician,  a  poet,  a  historian,  and  a  brehon. 
But  later  on,  after  the  people  had  become  Christian,  and  there  were 
no  longer  any  druids,  the  professions  became  divided,  and  one  man 
was  a  brehon,  another  a  poet,  another  a  physician,  and  so  on. 

The  druids  had  the  reputation  of  being  great  magicians,  and 
this  indeed  is  the  character  in  which  they  principally  figure  in  old 
Irish  writings.  They  professed  also  to  be  able  to  foretell  future 
events  by  casting  lots,  by  dreams,  by  listening  to  the  croaking  of 
ravens  or  the  chirping  of  wrens,  or  by  looking  at  the  clouds  or 
stars.  The  druids  were  employed  to  educate  the  children  of  kings 
and  chiefs;  so  that  they  were  persons  of  high  position  and  great 
influence,  held  in  respect  by  all  and  much  dreaded  by  the  common 
people.  Some  writers  think  that  they  were  also  a  sort  of  pagan 
priests  like  those  of  Greece  and  Rome.  No  doubt  the  druidic  sys- 
tems of  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Ireland  were  originally  one  and  the 
same,  as  being  derived  from  some  common  Eastern  source ;  but 
Druidism  seems  to  have  become  greatly  modified  in  Ireland,  and 
the  descriptions  of  the  Gaulish  and  British  druids  by  Ccesar  and 
others  give  us  no  information  regarding  those  of  Ireland.  The 
short  account  of  Irish  druids  given  here  is  derived  from  purely 
native  sources,  beyond  which  we  cannot  go,  as  we  have  no  informa- 
tion from  outside. 

The  pagan  Irish  had  gods  and  goddesses,  many  of  whom  are 
named  in  the  old  writings,  but  there  was  no  one  of  them  at  the 
liead  of  all  the  others,  like  Jupiter  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 


LIFE    AND     RELIGION  17 

The  Irish  sea-god  was  Mannanan  Mac  Lir,  a  Dedannan  chief  who 
was  deified  after  his  death.  The  people  also  worshiped  the  shee 
or  fairies.  The  belief  was  that  the  Dedannans,  after  they  had 
been  conquered  by  the  Milesians,  went  to  live  underground  and 
became  fairies.  Each  Dedannan  chief  selected  a  green  mound, 
called  in  the  Irish  language  a  shee  or  fairy-hill,  under  which  he 
took  up  his  residence  with  his  followers,  in  a  glorious  palace  bril- 
liantly lighted  up,  and  all  sparkling  with  gems  and  gold.  These 
shees,  which  are  scattered  over  the  country,  are  usually  old  burial 
mounds,  or  natural  hills  having  on  top  a  rath,  a  mound,  a  great 
natural  rock,  or  a  cairn.  The  fairies  themselves  were  also  called 
shee;  and  they  were  believed  to  issue  forth  from  the  hills  at  night 
and  roam  over  the  country,  doing  harm  much  oftener  than  good. 
The  people  did  not  love  the  shee,  but  dreaded  them  very  much, 
and  whatever  worship  they  paid  them  was  merely  intended  to  keep 
them  from  inflicting  injury. 

In  some  places  idols  were  worshiped.  There  is  no  good  evi- 
dence to  show  that  the  pagan  Irish  ofifered  human  sacrifices :  though 
some  writers,  on  insufficient  authority,  have  asserted  that  they  did. 
Natural  objects  were  worshiped  by  many.  Well- worship  was  pretty 
general,  while  some  few  worshiped  fire,  and  others  the  sun  and 
moon. 

The  pagan  Irish  had  a  dim  sort  of  belief  in  a  land  of  ever- 
lasting youth  and  peace,  called  by  various  names,  such  as  Moy- 
Mell,  the  land  of  pleasure;  Tirnanoge,  the  land  of  perpetual  youth; 
I  Brazil  or  O  Brazil,  etc.  As  to  where  it  was  situated,  the  accounts 
vary.  Always  fairies  inhabited  these  happy  lands,  and  sometimes 
they  carried  off  mortals  to  them.  Mortals  who  were  brought  to 
fairyland  never  grew  older,  and  passed  the  time  there  so  pleas- 
antly that  perhaps  a  whole  century  passed  away  when  they  thought 
it  was  only  about  a  year. 

These  were  the  beliefs  and  practices  that  passed  for  religion 
among  the  pagan  Irish.  But  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  in- 
formation that  has  come  down  to  us,  it  hardly  deserves  the  name 
of  a  religion  at  all,  for  it  was  without  any  settled  general  form  of 
worship,  it  did  not  lay  down  any  rules  of  duty  or  conduct,  and  it 
had  no  influence  in  making  people  lead  better  lives. 


Chapter    IV 

GOVERNMENT   AND    LAW 

THE  clan  or  tribe  system  prevailed  in  Ireland,  as  it  did  in  all 
other  countries  of  Europe  in  early  ages.  A  clan  or  sept 
consisted  of  a  number  of  families  all  of  one  kindred, 
living  in  the  same  district,  and  generally  bearing  the  same  family 
name,  such  as  O'Donnell  or  MacCarthy.  A  tribe  was  a  larger 
group,  consisting  of  several  clans  or  septs,  all  more  or  less  distantlv 
related  to  each  other.  A  tribe  occupied  a  territory,  of  which  each 
sept  had  a  separate  district,  without  interference  by  other  septs  of 
the  same  tribe.  Over  each  tribe,  as  well  as  over  each  sept,  there 
was  a  chief,  and  the  chief  of  the  tribe  had  authority  over  those  of 
the  several  septs  under  him.  If  the  territory  occupied  by  a  tribe 
was  very  large,  the  chief  was  a  ri  [pronounced  ree],  or  king. 
Sometimes  a  king  ruled  over  two  or  more  tribes. 

From  a  very  early  time  Ireland  was  partitioned  into  five  prov- 
inces: Ulster,  Leinster,  Munster,  Connaught,  and  Meath.  Ulster, 
in  its  coast  line,  extended  from  the  Boyne  round  northward  to  the 
little  river  Drowes,  which  issues  from  Lough  IVIelvin,  and  flows  be- 
tween the  counties  of  Donegal  and  Leitrim;  Leinster  from  the 
Boyne  to  the  mouth  of  the  Suir;  Munster  from  the  Suir  round 
southward  to  the  Shannon ;  Connaught  from  the  Shannon  to  the 
Drowes.  The  province  of  Meath,  which  was  the  last  formed,  was 
much  larger  than  the  present  two  counties  of  Meath  and  West- 
meath.  It  extended  from  the  Shannon  eastward  to  the  sea,  and 
from  the  confines  of  the  present  King's  County  and  County  Kildare 
on  the  south,  to  the  confines  of  Fermanagh  and  Armagh  on  the 
north.  Subsequently  there  were  some  changes.  Clare  was  wrested 
from  Connaught  and  added  to  Munster ;  and  Louth  was  transferred 
from  Ulster  to  Leinster.  Finally,  in  the  later  subdivisions  of  the 
countr}%  Meath  disappeared  altogether  as  a  province,  and  the  four 
older  provinces  still  remain. 

Over  each  province  there  was  a  ri  or  king;  and  there  was  a 
king  over  all  Ireland  who  was  called  the  Ard-ri,  /.  e..  the  "over- 
king"  or  supreme  monarch.     The  Ard-ri  lived  at  Tara  till  its  aban- 

18 


G  O  \  E  R  N  M  E  N  T     AND     LAW  19 

donment  in  the  sixth  century,  and  the  province  of  Meath  always 
belong-ed  to  him,  to  enable  him  to  maintain  his  court  with  due 
dignity.  Besides  this,  he  received — or  was  supposed  to  receive — 
tribute  from  the  provincial  kings  to  support  his  armies  and  defray 
other  expenses  of  government.  The  kings  of  the  provinces  were  in 
like  manner  paid  tribute  by  the  kings  or  chiefs  of  their  several 
tribes,  or  sub-kingdoms ;  and  these  again  were  partly  supported  by 
payments  from  their  subordinate  chiefs  and  heads  of  households. 
As  the  Ard-ri  had  Aleath,  as  "  Alensal-land,"  for  his  personal  ex- 
penses, so  each  king  and  chief,  from  the  highest  grade  to  the  lowest, 
had  a  tract  of  land  for  life,  or  as  long  as  he  continued  chief,  for 
the  support  of  his  household,  along  with  the  payments  he  received 
from  those  under  him.  This  land,  on  his  death,  Avent,  not  to  his 
family,  but  to  his  successor  in  the  chief  ship — a  custom  which  was 
called  Tanistry.  A  king  sat  on  a  throne  and  wore  a  crown  on  state 
occasions ;  he  was  richly  dressed,  and  had  great  numbers  of 
attendants. 

Every  tenant  of  land,  and  most  heads  of  homesteads  of  what- 
ever business,  had  to  pay  contributions  to  the  chief.  These  were 
not  in  money,  for  there  was  little  or  no  coined  money  in  those 
times,  but  in  kind,  z'i::;.,  cattle,  corn,  pigs,  butter,  wine,  clothing, 
handmade  articles,  etc..  and  sometimes  gold  and  siher  weighed 
out  by  the  ounce.  Some  of  the  land  tenants  were  independ- 
ent and  well  to  do ;  and  some,  on  the  other  hand,  were  dependent 
and  bound  down  by  hard  conditions  to  their  chief.  Many  of  these 
latter  tenants  had  to  receive  the  chief  and  his  attendants  on  visita- 
tion, and  to  supply  them  with  food  and  drink  during  the  time  they 
stayed.  Food  and  drink  given  in  this  way  was  called  coine}- ;  and 
the  number  of  followers,  the  time,  and  the  kind  of  food,  were  care- 
fully regulated  by  the  Brehon  Law.  But  it  was  a  bad  and  a  dan- 
gerous custom. 

In  later  times  the  Anglo-Irish  lords  imitated  and  abused  this 
regulation  b\-  what  was  called  coyne  and  livery.  A  militarj' 
leader,  when  he  had  no  money  to  pay  his  soldiers,  turned  them  out 
with  arms  in  their  hands  among  the  English  colonists  (seldom 
among  the  old  Irish)  to  pay  themselves  in  money  and  food.  This 
was  coyne  and  livery.  There  were  here  no  rules  laid  down,  as 
there  were  for  coiney ;  and  the  soldiers,  being  under  no  restraint, 
])lundere(l  and  oppressed  the  people,  and  committed  many  other 
crimes.     Bad  as  the  Irish  coinev  was.  covne  and  liverv  was  much 


20  IRELAND 

worse:  and  at  one  time  it  was  so  constantly  carried  on  that  it  al- 
most mined  the  English  settlement  of  the  Pale  round  Dublin. 

The  king  or  chief  was  always  taken  from  the  members  of  one 
ruling  family  of  the  tribe  or  clan,  that  member  being  chosen  who 
was  considered  best  able  to  govern  and  lead,  in  peace  and  war 
(which  would  of  course  exclude  children),  and  he  should  be  free 
from  bodily  deformity  or  any  plainly  marked  personal  blemish.  He 
might  be  son,  brother,  cousin,  or  any  other  relative  of  the  last  chief, 
and  he  was  elected  by  the  votes  of  the  principal  men.  Very  often, 
during  the  life  of  a  king  or  chief,  a  person  was  elected  to  succeed 
him,  in  order  to  prevent  quarrels  whenever  a  vacancy  should  occur. 
This  person  was  called  the  Tanist,  and  he  stood  next  to  the  king  in 
rank.  The  king,  of  whatever  grade,  was  not  absolute ;  he  could  not 
decide  on  any  important  matter  concerning  the  tribe  or  territory 
without  consulting  and  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  principal  men, 
which  was  usually  done  at  one  of  the  meetings  before  described. 

The  Irish  kings  seldom  kept  standing  armies;  but  the  men  of 
the  tribe  were  called  on,  as  occasions  arose,  to  serve  in  war,  and 
when  the  campaign  or  expedition  was  over,  they  returned  to  their 
homes.  They  did  not  use  cavalry  in  war,  but  on  marches  the  chief 
leaders  rode  at  the  head  of  their  men.  We  do  not  find  cavalry 
mentioned  on  either  side  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf.  The  Irish  had, 
however,  horse  soldiers  for  special  services,  each  of  whom  had  two 
attendants :  a  man  to  look  after  his  arms  and  accouterments,  and  a 
boy  to  attend  to  the  horse. 

Two  kinds  of  foot-soldiers  were  employed:  galloglasses  and 
kern.  The  galloglasses  w-ere  heavy-armed  soldiers.  They  wore 
a  coat  of  mail  and  an  iron  helmet ;  a  long  sword  hung  by  the  side, 
and  in  the  hand  was  carried  a  broad,  heavy,  keen-edged  ax.  They 
are  described  as  large-limbed,  tall,  and  fierce-looking,  and  were 
noted  for  their  dexterity  in  the  use  of  the  battle-ax,  against  which 
neither  armor  nor  helmet  was  a  sufficient  protection.  Besides  the 
broad  ax  used  by  the  galloglasses,  another  kind  of  ax  called  a  sparth 
was  in  use,  long,  narrow,  and  very  sharp. 

The  Irish  never  took  to  armor  very  generally,  but  preferred  to 
fight  in  saffron  linen  tunics,  which  lost  them  many  a  battle  when 
contending  against  the  Danes  and  Anglo-Normans.  The  kern 
were  light-armed ;  they  wore  head  pieces,  and  fought  with  a  skean, 
or  a  dagger  or  short  sword,  a  small  bow,  and  a  javelin  attached  to 
a  thon"-. 


GOVERNMENT     AND     LAW  21 

The  gradation  of  authority  among  the  kings  and  chiefs  seemed 
perfect :  The  monarch  of  Ireland  ruled  over  the  provincial  kings ; 
the  provincial  kings  over  the  kings  of  tribes;  and  those  over  the 
chiefs  of  clans.  But  it  was  perfect  only  in  name.  The  supreme 
monarch  was  never  able  to  enforce  his  authority  over  the  provincial 
kings,  who  in  their  turn  were  often  defied  by  their  sub-kings.  The 
several  kings  and  chiefs  were  seldom  under  proper  control,  and  they 
were  continually  quarreling  and  fighting.  This  constant  state  of 
warfare  kept  the  people  in  misery  wherever  it  went  on.  The  kings 
and  chiefs  could  seldom  be  brought  to  unite  heartily  for  any  com- 
mon purpose,  so  that  invaders  from  over  sea  were  able  to  make 
lodgments  without  meeting  with  any  serious  opposition.  It  should 
be  remarked,  however,  that  in  this  respect  the  people  of  Ireland 
were  not  worse  than  those  of  other  countries  at  the  corresponding 
period ;  the  minor  kings  and  chiefs  of  England  were  just  as  bad  in 
the  time  of  the  Heptarchy.  But  in  England  it  so  happened  that  the 
kings  of  one  particular  state  grew  so  powerful  that  they  at  length 
mastered  all  the  others,  and  became  the  undisputed  kings  of  all 
England.  In  Ireland  no  doubt  something  of  the  same  kind  would 
in  the  end  have  com.e  to  pass ;  but  before  things  had  time  to  work 
themselves  out  in  this  manner,  the  Danish  incursions  and  the 
Anglo-Norman  invasion  came  and  changed  the  whole  fortunes  of 
the  country. 

We  have  seen  that  the  people  belonging  to  each  sept  of  a  tribe 
had  a  tract  of  land  set  apart  for  themselves.  A  small  part  of  this 
land  was  the  private  property  of  individuals ;  all  the  rest  was  Tribe- 
land  or  Sept-land,  that  is,  it  belonged,  not  to  individuals,  but  to  the 
sept  in  general.  Each  head  of  a  family  had  a  farm  for  the  time 
being,  but  every  three  or  four  years  there  was  a  new  distribution  of 
the  sept-land  (without  disturbing  that  of  the  neighboring  septs), 
when  the  people  had  to  give  up  their  farms  and  take  others,  which 
generally  happened  on  the  death  of  one  of  the  householders  who 
had  land.  This  custom  was  called  Gavelkind,  but  it  was  not  a 
good  plan.  It  prevented  improvements,  for  no  man  will  drain,  or 
fence,  or  subsoil  land  that  he  may  have  to  give  up  in  a  few  years. 
A  somewhat  different  sort  of  Gavelkind  prevailed  in  Wales  and 
England,  and  exists  in  a  modified  form  at  the  present  time  in  Kent. 
Another  part  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  sept  was  Commons,  that 
is,  waste  land,  such  as  mountain,  bog,  or  wood,  which  was  not 
assigned  to  any  individuals  in  particular,  but  which  every  house- 


an 


IRELAND 


holder  of  the  sept  had  a  right  to  use  for  grazing,  fuel,  hunting,  and 
such  like  purposes. 

The  ancient  law  of  Ireland,  which  grew  up  gradually  in  the 
course  of  ages,  is  now  commonly  called  the  Brehon  Law,  and  the 
judges  who  tried  and  decided  cases  were  called  brehons.  To  be- 
come a  brehon  a  person  had  to  undergo  a  long  and  carefully 
arranged  course  of  training,  under  masters  who  were  themselves 
skilled  brehons.     Injuries  of  all  kinds  as  between  man  and  man 


were  atoned  for  by  a  compensation  payment.  Homicide,  or  bodily 
injury  of  any  kind,  whether  by  intent  or  by  misadventure,  was 
atoned  for  by  a  money  fine,  called  an  eric  [er^rick]  ;  the  amount  was 
adjudged  by  a  brehon.  The  brehons  had  collections  of  laws  in 
volumes,  in  the  Irish  language,  by  which  they  regulated  their  judg- 
ments. 3,Iany  of  these  old  volumes,  all  in  beautiful  handwriting, 
are  still  preserved,  and  several  of  them  have  lately  been  published 
with  English  translations.  The  Brehon  Law  came  down  from  a 
time  beyond  the  reach  of  history,  and  it  continued  to  be  used  pretty 
generally  till  the  l)eginning  of  the  seventeenth  centuiy,  when  it 
was  abolished  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  English  law  was  extended 
to  the  vv'hole  of  Ireland. 


Chapter   V 

THE   LEGENDS 

WE  have  no  means  of  finding  out  for  a  certainty  how  Ire- 
land was  first  peopled.  It  is  highly  probable  that  part 
at  least  of  its  earliest  colonists  came  across  the  narrow 
sea  from  Great  Britain,  which  had  been  itself  colonized  by  some  of 
the  Celtic  tribes  that  in  those  days  occupied  a  large  part  of  the  west 
of  Europe.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  other  colonies 
came  hither  direct  from  the  Continent,  some  from  Spain  and  some 
from  Greece.  All  these  movements,  howe\er,  took  place  long  be- 
fore the  time  when  our  regular  history  began.  But,  though  those 
far  distant  ages  are  beyond  th.e  ken  of  history,  we  have  in  our  old 
books — the  manuscript  books  already  spoken  of — plenty  of  legends 
about  them,  that  is  to  say,  stories  partly  or  wholly  fabulous,  handed 
down  by  word  of  mouth  in  the  beginning*  for  many  generations, 
and  at  last  committed  to  writing.  Many  of  these  traditions  had 
a  foundation  of  truth.  The  legends  relate  at  great  length  how  five 
successive  colonies  arrived  in  Ireland  many  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era.  No  one  can  understand  ancient  Irish  literature  who 
does  not  know  something  of  these  legends. 

Of  the  first  colony  the  leader  was  Parthalon,  who  came  hither 
from  Greece  with  a  thousand  followers.  PTe  took  up  his  abode  at 
first  on  the  little  island  of  Tnish-Samer  in  the  river  Erne.  But  after 
some  time  he  and  his  people  left  this  place  and  made  their  way 
southeast  through  forest  and  bog  till  they  reached  the  east  coast, 
and  settled  on  the  plain  on  which  Dublin  now  stands.  Here  the 
Parthalonians  increased  and  multiplied  till  at  the  end  of  three 
hundred  years  they  were  all  carried  off  in  one  week  by  a  plague. 

After  the  destruction  of  Parthalon's  people  Ireland  remained  a 
solitude  for  thirty  years,  till  a  second  colony,  the  Nemedians,  came 
hither  from  Scythia.  under  the  leadership  of  Nemed.  These  people 
were  harassed  by  a  race  of  fierce  sea-robbers  from  Scandinavia 
called  Fomorians,  and  so  many  battles  were  fought  between  them 
that  very  few  of  either  party  survived.      One  ship's  crew  of  Ne- 

'23 


24  IRELAND 

medians  fled  over  the  sea  to  Greece,  whence  after  a  lapse  of  several 
hundred  years,  their  descendants  under  the  names  of  Firbolgs  and 
Dedannans,  made  their  way  back  to  Ireland. 

The  Firbolgs,  who  sprang  from  one  branch  of  the  Nemedians, 
came  first,  fleeing  from  the  oppression  of  the  Greeks  in  a  number  of 
the  king's  ships  they  had  seized.  They  were  the  third  colony,  and 
having  landed  in  Ireland,  their  leaders,  the  five  sons  of  Dela,  parti- 
tioned the  country  into  five  provinces.  This  ancient  division  has 
survived  with  some  alterations  to  the  present  day.  The  Firbolgs 
held  sway  for  only  thirty-six  years,  when  they  were  conquered  by 
the  next  colony,  and  retreated  to  Connaught. 

The  Dedannans,  or  fourth  colony,  who  were  the  descendants  of 
another  branch  of  the  Nemedians,  dwelt  near  Athens  in  Greece  for 
many  generations.  They  learned  magic  from  the  Greeks  till  they 
became  better  magicians  than  their  masters.  They  were  compelled 
to  flee  for  that  reason.  They  came  to  Ireland  and  landed  on  the 
north  coast,  where  they  defeated  the  Firbolgs  and  gained  the  sover- 
eignty, which  they  completed  by  a  victory  over  the  remaining  Fo- 
morians  twenty-seven  years  later.  They  were  not  only  magicians, 
but  skilled  artisans.  In  subsequent  ages  they  were  deified  and 
became  shee  or  fairies,  whom  the  pagan  Irish  worshiped. 

The  legends  dwell  with  fond  minuteness  on  the  origin,  wan- 
derings, and  adventures  of  the  fifth,  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  Irish 
colonies.  From  Scythia,  their  original  home,  began  their  long 
pilgrimage :  and  having  w^andered  from  one  country  to  another  for 
many  generations,  seeking  for  Inisfail — the  "Isle  of  Destiny" — 
their  final  home,  of  which  one  of  their  druids  had  told  them,  they 
settled  in  Spain,  from  which,  after  a  long  sojourn,  they  migrated 
to  Ireland.  They  were  led  by  the  eight  sons  of  the  hero 
Miled  []\Iee-le],  or  Milesius,  of  Spain,  whence  they  were  called 
Milesians. 

Despite  the  magic  spells  of  the  Dedannans,  the  Milesians  over- 
came them  and  took  possession  of  tlie  country.  Eremon  was  their 
first  king,  and  thenceforward  Ireland  was  ruled  by  a  succession  of 
Milesian  kings  till  the  reign  of  Roderick  O'Conor,  who  was  the  last 
native  over-king.  From  these  Milesian  people  descend  all  those  of 
the  modern  Irish  who  have  or  have  had  an  "  O  "  or  a  "  Mac  "  to 
their  surname. 

From  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any  record  it  was  the 
custom  to  hold  a  Fes  or  meeting  at  Tara,  the  residence  of  tlic  Ard-ri, 


THELEGENDS  25 

where  the  nobles  and  learned  men  of  the  whole  country  met,  with 
the  Ard-ri  at  their  head,  to  examine  the  laws  and  records  of  the 
kingdom,  and  to  transact  other  important  business.  The  proceed- 
ings were  written  down  in  a  book  called  the  Psalter  of  Tara;  but 
this  book,  if  it  ever  existed,  was  lost  or  destroyed  ages  ago.  Ac- 
cording to  the  legend,  the  Fes  was  instituted  by  the  mighty  King 
Ollamh  Fodla  [Ollav  Fola].  It  was  held  for  some  days  before  and 
after  Samin,  or  the  first  of  November,  and  the  intention  was  to 
summon  it  every  third  year.  But  this  intention  was  not  carried  out, 
for  in  reality  it  was  held  only  at  irregular  intervals — generally  at 
the  beginning  of  each  king's  reign,  and  occasionally  at  other  times, 
when  any  important  business  required  it.  It  is  necessary  to  observe 
that  the  holding  of  the  Fes  of  Tara  is  not  mere  legend,  but  a 
historical  fact.  Tara  was  abandoned  as  a  royal  residence  in  the 
sixth  century;  but  extensive  remains  of  mounds  and  raths  are  still 
to  be  seen  on  and  around  the  hill. 

There  are  some  facts  which  we  know  from  the  year  130  a.  d. 
on,  although  the  narrative  is  not  yet  free  from  legend.  We  know 
that  once  the  Milesians  were  overthrown  for  a  few  years  by  the 
plebeian  races,  and  that  for  the  crime  of  a  king  of  Leinster,  that 
province  was  put  under  tribute  called  Boru  for  many  years.  We 
also  hear  of  Conn  the  Hundred-Fighter,  who  was  a  great,  warlike, 
and  active  king;  and  of  his  grandson,  Cormac  MacArt,  the  most 
illustrious  of  all  the  pagan  kings  of  Ireland,  a  great  warrior, 
scholar,  and  lawmaker,  and  an  encourager  of  learning. 

Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  who  reigned  from  379  to  405  a.  d., 
was  the  most  warlike  and  adventurous  of  all  the  pagan  kings.  The 
posterity  of  this  great  king  was  called  Hy  Neill,  meaning  "  descen- 
dants of  Niall."  With  two  exceptions  (Dathi  and  Olioll  Molt)  all 
the  over-kings  of  Ireland  from  the  time  of  Niall  down  to  the  acces- 
sion of  Brian  Boru  belonged  to  this  illustrious  family  of  Hy  Neill, 
who  in  later  ages  took  the  name  of  O'Xeill. 

At  this  time  Ireland  was  called  (among  other  names)  Scotia, 
and  the  Irish  people  were  known  as  Scots.  When,  subsequently, 
the  Irish  made  settlements  and  founded  a  kingdom  in  Scotland. 
Ireland  was  usually  called  Scotia  Major,  while  Scotland,  whose 
old  name  was  Alban,  began  to  be  known  as  Scotia  Minor.  This 
continued  till  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  when  the  name 
Scotia  was  dropped  and  the  island  was  called  Eire-land,  or  Ireland, 
from  the  old  native  name  Eire  or  Erin ;  and  x\lban  came  to  be 


26  IRELAND 

known  by  its  present  name  Scotland,  that  is,  the  land  of  the  Scots 
or  Irish. 

In  those  early  ages  the  Irish  were  very  much  in  the  habit  of 
crossing  the  sea  on  warlike  expeditions;  and  they  did  not  confine 
their  excursions  to  Scotland.  Long  before  the  time  of  Niall  they 
had  conquered  the  Isle  of  ]\lan  and  a  large  part  of  Wales,  and  many 
traces  of  their  occupation  remain  in  both  places  to  this  day,  such  as 
old  place-names,  old  forts,  and  other  monuments.  The  most 
formidable  of  all  the  invaders  were  Niall,  who  led  several  expedi- 
tions against  the  Romans,  and  his  nephew  Dathi,  the  last  king  of 
pagan  Ireland. 

The  next  king  was  Laegaire  [Leary]  son  of  Niall  of  the  Nine 
Hostages,  the  first  of  the  Hy  Neill  kings,  428  a.  d.,  in  whose  reign 
St.  Patrick  arrived  in  Ireland  to  begin  his  mission.  We  have  now 
arrived  at  the  fifth  century  and  shall  have  little  more  to  do  with 
legend,  having,  as  it  were,  emerged  from  twilight  into  the  open 
day.  Henceforward  tlie  narrative  is  historical,  and  may  be  gen- 
erally accepted  as  truth. 

The  history  of  pagan  Ireland  ends  here ;  and  so  far  we  have 
drawn  our  information  regarding  those  ancient  times  almost  en- 
tirely from  the  native  records.  In  those  days  of  imperfect  naviga- 
tion, Ireland  was  so  remote  that  foreign  writers  knew  very  little 
about  it,  but  the  few  notices  of  it  they  have  left  us  are  very  impor- 
tant. It  was  known  to  the  Phcenicians,  who  probably  visited  it, 
and  Greek  writers  mention  it  under  the  names  of  lernis  and  lerne 
[I-er-ne],  and  as  the  "Sacred  Island"  thickly  inhabited  by  the 
Hiberni.  The  Greek  geographer  Ptolemy,  writing  in  the  second 
century,  who  drew  his  information  from  Phoenician  authorities, 
has  given  us  a  description  of  Ireland  much  more  accurate  than  the 
account  he  has  left  us  of  Great  Britain.  And  that  the  people  of 
Ireland  carried  on  a  considerable  trade  with  foreign  countries  in 
those  early  ages  we  know  from  the  statement  of  the  Roman  his- 
torian Tacitus,  that  in  his  time — the  end  of  the  first  century — the 
harbors  of  Ireland  were  better  known  to  trading  nations  than  those 
of  Britain.  People  that  carry  on  commerce  cannot  be  altogether 
barbarous,  and  these  few  notices  show  that  the  country  had  some 
settled  institutions  and  a  certain  degree  of  civilization  as  early  at 
least  as  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  So  that  the  native 
writers,  with  all  their  legends  and  overdrawn  pictures  of  ancient 
Ireland,  have  some  truth  on  their  side. 


Chapter   VI 

ST.    PATRICK.    403-465    A.    D. 

READERS  of  our  early  history  know  that  there  were  Chris- 
tians in  Ireland  before  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  for  Palladiiis 
»-  was  sent  to  be  bishop  in  431  a.  d.  He  had  little  success 
and  was  soon  expelled.  The  next  mission  had  a  very  different 
result.  No  nation  in  the  world  was  converted  to  Christianity  in  so 
short  a  time  as  the  Irish;  and  no  missionary,  after  the  age  of  the 
apostles,  preached  the  Gospel  with  more  success  than  St.  Patrick. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  will  and  great  courage,  with  much  tact 
and  good  sense;  and  wherever  he  went,  the  people  he  addressed 
were  all  the  more  willing  to  hearken  to  his  preaching  on  account  of 
the  noble  simplicity  and  purity  of  his  life.  He  cared  nothing  for 
riches  and  honors,  but  he  loved  the  people  of  Ireland,  and  his  whole 
anxiety  was  to  make  them  good  Christians.  We  do  not  know  for 
certain  his  birthplace;  but  the  best  authorities  believe  he  was  born 
near  Dumbarton  in  Alban  or  Scotland,  though  others  think  in  the 
west  of  Gaul.  At  that  time  both  Gaul  and  Britain  were  under  the 
Romans,  and  there  is  evidence  that  his  family,  whichever  of  the 
two  places  they  belonged  to,  were  Christians,  and  that  they  were  in 
a  respectable  station  of  life,  for  his  father  Calpurn  was  a  magistrate 
in  the  Roman  service. 

\Vhen  Patrick  was  a  boy  of  sixteen,  he  was,  as  we  are  told  by 
himself  in  his  writings,  taken  captive  and  brought  to  Ireland.  This 
was  about  the  year  403.  He  spent  there  six  years  of  his  life,  a 
Christian  alone  among  pagans.  At  the  end  of  those  six  years  of 
slavery  Patrick  escaped  and  made  his  way  through  many  hardships 
and  dangers  to  his  home  and  family.  During  his  residence  in  Ire- 
land he  had  become  familiar  with  the  language  of  the  people;  and 
the  memory  of  the  pagan  darkness  in  which  they  lived  haunted  him 
night  and  day,  so  that  he  formed  the  resolution  to  devote  his  life 
to  their  conversion.  He  first  studied  with  great  diligence  for  about 
four  years  in  the  large  monastic  school  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours, 
and  subsequently  under  St.  Germain  of  Auxerre,  and  in  431  he  set 
out  for  Ireland. 

27 


28  IRELAND 

431-433 

Ilis  life  and  work  there  is  more  or  less  traditional,  and  in 
some  points  controverted.  Even  his  autobiography  is  unreliable, 
as  he  wrote  it  for  the  glory  of  the  cause  he  represented.  So  al- 
though many  of  the  traditions  have  elements  of  truth,  the  stories 
told  here  of  him  cannot  be  relied  on  absolutely. 

He  landed  first  at  Wicklow,  but  being  expelled  sailed  north 
and  landed  in  the  present  county  Down.  Here  Patrick  announced 
his  mission  and  explained  his  doctrine;  and  Dicho,  the  chief  of  the 
district,  and  his  whole  family  became  Christians  and  were  baptized — 
the  first  of  the  Irish  converted  by  St.  Patrick.  As  there  was  no 
church,  the  chief  i)resented  him  with  a  sabhall  [saul]  or  barn  for 
divine  service,  on  the  site  of  which  a  monastery  was  subsequently 
erected  in  honor  of  the  saint,  which  for  many  ages  was  held  in  great 
veneration.  And  the  memory  of  the  happy  event  is  preserved  lo 
this  day  in  the  name  of  the  little  village  of  Saul  near  Downpatrick. 
He  remained  in  this  neighborhood  for  some  time,  and  the  people, 
following  the  example  of  their  chief,  listened  to  his  preaching,  and 
were  baptized  in  great  numbers. 

St.  Patrick  adopted,  from  the  very  beginning,  a  bold  and  cour- 
ageous plan  of  preaching  the  Gospel  in  Ireland.  He  always  made 
straight  for  the  palaces  and  other  great  houses,  and  began  by  at- 
tempting to  convert  the  kings  and  chiefs.  He  was  well  aware  of 
the  veneration  of  the  clansmen  for  their  ruling  families,  and  he 
knew  that  once  the  king  had  become  a  Christian  the  people  would 
soon  follow.  He  had  experienced  the  success  of  this  plan  in  Saul, 
and  now  he  came  to  the  bold  resolution  to  go  to  Tara,  and  present 
himself  before  King  Laegaire  [Leary]  and  his  court.  Traveling 
toward  Tara  he  reached  the  hill  of  Slane  the  night  before  Easter, 
and  lit  the  Paschal  fire  on  the  top  of  the  liill.  This  was  in  violation 
of  the  law  as  to  the  king's  fires,  so  the  monarch  instantly  called  liis 
druids  and  questioned  them  about  it,  and  they  said :  "  If  that  fire 
which  we  now  see  be  not  extinguished  to-night,  it  will  never  be 
extinguished,  Imt  will  overtop  all  our  fires:  and  he  that  has  kindled 
it  will  overturn  thy  kingdom."  The  king  therefore  drove  out  to 
the  hill  and  commanded  Patrick  to  an  interview  the  next  morning. 

The  next  day  was  Easter  Sunday.  Early  in  the  morning  Pat- 
rick and  his  companions  set  out  for  the  palace,  and  on  their  way 
they  chanted  a  hymn  in  the  native  tongue.  The  scene  that  was 
presented  at  tlie  court  of  King  Laegaire  on  that  memorable  Easter 
morning  was  very  impressive.      Patrick  was   robed   in   white,   as 


ST.     PATRICK  29 

433-449 

were  also  his  companions ;  he  wore  his  miter,  and  carried  his  crosier 
in  his  hand ;  and  when  he  presented  himself  before  the  assembly, 
Dubthach  [Duffa],  Laegaire's  chief  poet,  rose  to  welcome  him,  con- 
trary to  the  express  commands  of  the  king.  The  saint,  all  aflame 
with  zeal  and  unawed  by  the  presence  of  king  and  court,  explained 
to  the  assembly  the  leading  points  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  and 
silenced  the  king's  druids  in  argument.  Dubthach  became  a  con- 
vert, and  thenceforward  devoted  his  poetical  talents  to  the  service 
of  God :  and  Laegaire  gave  permission  to  the  strange  missionaries 
to  preach  tlieir  doctrines  throughout  his  dominions.  Tiie  king 
himself,  however,  was  not  converted;  and  for  the  remaining  thirty 
years  of  his  life  he  remained  an  unbeliever,  while  the  paganism  of 
the  whole  country  was  rapidly  going  down  before  the  fiery  energy 
of  the  great  missionary. 

Patrick  next  proceeded  to  Tailltenn,  where,  during  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  national  games,  he  preached  for  a  week  to  the  assembled 
multitudes,  making  many  converts,  among  whom  was  Conall 
Gulban,  brother  to  King  Laegaire,  the  ancestor  of  the  O'Donnells 
of  Tirconnell.  We  find  him  soon  aftenvard  making  for  the  plain 
where  stood  the  great  national  idol  Crom  Cruach  with  the  twelve 
lesser  idols,  all  of  which  he  destroyed. 

About  the  year  438,  with  the  concurrence  of  King  Laegaire, 
he  undertook  the  task  of  revising  the  Brehon  Law.  He  was  aided 
by  eight  others,  among  them  King  Laegaire  himself,  and  at  the  end 
of  three  years  this  Committee  of  Nine  produced  a  new  code,  free 
from  all  pagan  customs  and  ordinances,  which  was  ever  after 
known  as  "  Cain  Patrick  "  or  Patrick's  Law.  This  law  book, 
which  is  also  called  Scnchus  Mor  [Shan'ahus  More],  has  been 
lately  translated  and  published. 

On  the  approach  of  Lent  he  retired  to  the  mountain  which  has 
ever  since  borne  his  name — Croagh  Patrick  or  Patrick's  Hill — ■ 
where  he  spent  some  time  in  fasting  and  prayer.  About  this  time, 
449  A.  D.,  the  seven  sons  of  Amalgaid  [Awley]  king  of  Connaught 
were  holding  a  meeting  in  Tirawley,  to  which  Patrick  repaired. 
He  expounded  his  doctrines  to  the  wondering  assembly,  and  the 
seven  princes  with  twelve  thousand  persons  were  baptized.  After 
Fliench'ng  seven  years  in  Connaught,  he  visited  successively  Ulster, 
l.einster,  and  Munster,  in  each  of  which  he  preached  for  several 
years.  Soon  nfler  entering  Lcinster,  he  converted,  at  the  palace 
hesicle  Xaas  wliere  tlie  Leinstcr  kings  then  resided,  the  two  princes 


30  IRELAND 

449-495 

Illann  and  Olioll,  sons  of  King  Dunlang,  who  both  afterward  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  of  their  father.  And  at  Cashel,  the  seat  of  the 
kings  of  Munster,  he  was  met  by  the  king,  Aengus  the  son  of  Nat- 
free,  who  conducted  him  into  the  palace  on  the  rock  with  the  great- 
est reverence,  and  was  at  once  baptized. 

Wherever  St.  Patrick  went  he  founded  churches,  and  left  them 
in  charge  of  his  disciples.  In  his  various  journeys  he  encountered 
many  dangers  and  met  with  numerous  temporary  repulses,  but  his 
courage  and  resolution  never  wavered,  and  success  attended  his 
efforts  in  almost  every  part  of  his  wonderful  career.  He  founded 
the  see  of  Armagh  about  the  year  455,  and  made  it  the  head  see  of 
all  Ireland.  The  greater  part  of  the  country  was  now  filled  with 
Christians  and  with  churches,  and  the  mission  of  the  venerable 
apostle  was  drawing  to  a  close.  He  was  seized  with  his  death  ill- 
ness in  Saul,  the  scene  of  his  first  triumph,  and  he  breathed  his  last 
on  March  17,  in  or  about  the  year  465,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year 
of  his  age. 

The  news  of  his  death  was  the  signal  for  universal  mourning. 
From  the  remotest  districts  of  the  island,  clergy  and  laity  turned 
their  steps  toward  the  little  village  of  Saul,  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of 
love  and  respect  to  their  great  master.  They  celebrated  the  obse- 
quies for  twelve  days  and  nights  without  interruption,  joining  in 
the  ceremonies  as  they  arrived  in  succession ;  and  in  the  language  of 
one  of  his  biographers,  the  blaze  of  myriads  of  torches  made  the 
whole  time  appear  like  one  continuous  day. 


Chapter    VII 

PROGRESS   OF    RELIGION    AND   LEARNING 

DURING  the  lifetime  of  St.  Patrick  there  was  extraordinary 
I  rehgious  fervor  in  Ireland  which  lasted  for  several  cen- 
turies, such  as,  probably,  has  never  been  witnessed  in  any 
other  country.  There  gathered  round  the  great  apostle  a  crowd  of 
holy  and  earnest  men,  who.  when  they  passed  away,  were  succeeded 
by  others  as  holy  and  as  earnest,  and  the  long  succession  continued 
unbroken  for  centuries.  We  have  the  lives  of  those  men  pictured 
in  minute  detail  in  our  old  writings,  and  it  is  impossible  to  look  on 
them  without  feelings  of  wonder  and  admiration.  They  were 
wholly  indifferent  to  bodily  comfort  or  to  worldly  advancement. 
They  traversed  the  country  on  foot,  and  endured  without  flinching 
privations  and  dangers  of  every  kind  for  the  one  object  of  their 
lives — to  spread  religion  and  civilization  among  their  rude  coun- 
trymen ;  and  when  at  home  in  their  monasteries,  many  lived  and 
slept  in  poor  comfortless  little  houses,  the  remains  of  which  may  be 
seen  to  this  day — places  we  should  now  hesitate  to  house  our  ani- 
mals in.  The  lot  of  the  poorest  and  hardest-worked  laboring  man 
of  our  time  is  luxury  itself  compared  with  the  life  led  by  many  of 
those  noble  old  missionaries.  But  even  these  were  surpassed  by 
those  resolute  Irishmen  who  went  in  crowds,  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  half-savage,  ferocious, 
and  vicious  people  who  then  inhabited  Gaul,  North  Italy,  and 
Germany. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  the  people  of  Ireland  were 
converted  by  St.  Patrick  and  his  companions.  There  were  large 
districts  never  visited  by  them ;  and  in  many  others  the  Christianity 
of  the  people  was  merely  on  the  surface.  Much  pagan  superstition 
remained ;  the  druids  still  retained  great  influence ;  and  for  more 
than  a  century  after  St.  Patrick's  death  Christianity  had  a  hard 
struggle  with  paganism ;  so  that  there  was  plenty  of  work  for  his 
successors.  Of  these  the  two  most  illustrious  were  St.  Brigit  and 
St.  Columba,  who,  of  all  the  Irish  saints,  with  the  single  exception 
of  St.  Patrick  himself,  are  most  venerated  by  the  Irish  people. 

31 


3J2  1 11  K  L  A  N  D 

453-597 

St.  Brigit  of  Kildare  was  born  about  the  year  453  at  Faughait 
near  Dundalk;  but  her  father,  who  was  a  powerful  chief,  belonged 
to  Leinster.  She  became  a  nun  when  very  young,  and  after  estab- 
lishing various  convents  settled  at  Killdara,  the  church  of  the  oak, 
now  Kildare.  This  became  the  greatest  and  most  famous  nunnery 
ever  established  in  Ireland.  St.  Brigit  died  on  February  i,  523. 
She  is  affectionately  revered  in  every  part  of  Ireland. 

St.  Columba  or  Columkille  was  born  in  521,  of  royal  family,  at 
Gartan  in  Donegal,  but  he  gave  up  all  the  worldly  advantages  of 
his  princely  birth  for  religion.  For  sixteen  years  he  preached  and 
built  churches,  his  chief  establishment  being  at  Durrow. 

In  the  year  of  563  Columba  went  with  twelve  companions  to  the 
little  island  of  lona  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  which  had  been 
granted  to  him  by  his  relative  the  king  of  that  part  of  Scotland. 
Here  he  settled,  and  founded  the  monastery  which  afterward  be- 
came so  illustrious.  He  converted  the  Picts,  and  he  traversed  the 
Hebrides,  preaching  to  the  people  and  founding  churches  wherever 
he  went.  After  a  life  of  incessant  activity  in  the  service  of  religion, 
his  death  sickness  came  upon  him  at  lona  in  the  year  597,  when  he 
was  seventy-six  years  of  age.  Among  the  Irish  who  became 
famous  on  the  Continent  were  St.  Gall  and  Scotus  Erigena. 

The  early  monastic  clergy  of  Ireland  may  be  said  to  have  been 
mainly  of  two  classes.  Those  of  the  one  class  settled  in  the  in- 
habited districts,  and  concerned  themselves  with  the  functions  of 
education  and  religious  ministration.  They  went  freely  among 
chiefs  and  people,  restrained  their  quarrels  so  far  as  they  could,  and 
instnicted,  assisted,  and  encouraged  them  by  advice  and  example. 
Those  of  the  other  class  gave  themselves  up  to  a  life  of  prayer, 
contemplation,  and  work;  and  these  took  up  their  abode  in  remote 
islands  or  mountain  valleys,  places  generally  hard  to  reach,  and 
often  almost  inaccessible.  Here  the  little  communities  lived  in 
huts,  built  by  themselves,  one  for  each  individual,  while  near  by 
was  the  little  church  for  common  worship.  There  was  a  very 
general  inclination  among  religious  men  for  this  monastic  hermit 
life  in  the  early  Christian  ages — from  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century;  and  on  almost  all  the  islands  round  the  coast,  as 
well  as  on  those  in  the  lakes  and  rivers,  the  remains  of  churches  and 
primitive  establishments  are  found  to  this  day. 

The  churches  built  after  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick  were  gen- 
erally of  wood,  but  often  of  stone  and  mortar.      For  hundreds  of 


)  MSIMII.K     III-     Till';      IlKST      I'Ai.K     Ol'     TIIK     i,iiS|>Kr.     O!"     ST.      MATTHEW,      IX 
\\     IKISil     UK    l.rXF.     M  ANTSCKliT    <IK    TIIK    KK.HTTI     CKXTrRV 

(IiiU'crial  Library.   St.   /'rlrrshii  r,i: :   C<'!h-clio<i    St.    Ccniv:ln-,Ics-rr;-s .    io8.      Si-c  of 

the    nri^iiuj!    356    X    -'61     iiiilliiiK'fer.^.) 

Tr.ivsrrittioit:      Liber  Genenitioiiis   UH'  Xl'I    (1.   e..   Jesu   Christi)    Fili  Dauid 


RELIGION     AND     LEARNING  33 

431-697 

years  they  continued  very  simple  and  small,  for  the  congregations 
were  small,  but  in  the  twelfth  century  large  and  splendid  churches 
began  to  be  erected,  both  by  the  Anglo-Norman  lords,  and  by  the 
native  chiefs.  The  ruins  of  numbers  of  the  little  stone  churches 
of  the  early  Christian  times,  and  of  the  grand  churches  and 
monasteries  of  the  twelfth  and  subsequent  centuries,  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  connection  with  many  of 
the  churches  and  monasteries  were  slender  round  towers,  used  as 
belfries,  and  as  keeps  or  fortresses,  to  which  the  inmates  of  the 
monasteries  could  retire  for  the  time,  with  their  valuables,  in  case 
of  sudden  attack  by  the  Danes  or  others,  wliich  latter  was  their 
most  important  use.  Some  were  probably  also  used  as  beacons 
and  watch-towers.  About  eighty  of  the  round  towers  still  remain, 
of  which  upward  of  twenty  are  perfect. 

Almost  all  churches  and  monasteries  were  founded  on  tracts 
of  land  granted  for  the  purpose  by  kings  or  chiefs,  and  after  their 
establishment  they  were  supported,  partly  by  donations  and  be- 
quests, and  partly  by  the  labors  of  their  communities.  Many 
became  rich,  and  their  wealth  was  expended  in  relieving  poverty, 
in  entertaining  guests,  and  in  the  production  of  those  lovely  v/orks 
of  art  in  gold,  silver,  and  gems,  wliich  have  been  already  described. 
Attached  to  every  monastery,  and  forming  part  of  it,  was  what 
was  called  the  "Guest-house"  for  the  reception  of  travelers;  and 
some  of  the  inmates  were  told  off  for  this  duty,  whose  l)usincss  it 
was  to  receive  the  stranger,  to  wash  his  feet,  and  prepare  supper 
and  bed  for  him.  Some  of  the  monks  too  were  skilled  in  simple 
herb  remedies,  and  the  poor  people  around  often  came  to  them  for 
advice  and  medicine  in  sickness. 

In  the  educational  establishments,  teaching  afforded  abundant 
employment  to  the  scliolarly  meml^ers  of  the  community.  Others 
again  worked  at  copying  and  multiplying  books  for  the  library,  or 
ior  presentation  outside ;  and  to  the  industry  of  these  scribes  we 
ovv'e  tlie  chief  ])art  of  the  ancient  Irish  lore,  aiul  other  learning,  that 
h;is  been  preserved  to  us.  vSt.  Columba  devoted  every  moment  of 
his  spare  time  to  this  work,  writing  in  a  little  wooden  hut  that  he 
had  erected  for  his  use  at  lona.  Some  spent  their  time  in  orna- 
menting and  illuminating  hooks — generally  of  a  religious  character, 
such  as  copies  of  portions  of  Scripture,  and  these  men  produced  the 
wonderful  penwork  of  the  Book  of  Kells  and  other  such  man- 
uscripts.     Others  were  skilled  metal-workers,  and  made  crosiers, 


34  I  R  P:  L  A  N  D 

500-550 

crosses,  bells,  brooches,  and  other  articles,  of  which  many  are  pre- 
served to  this  day,  that  show  the  surpassing  taste  and  skill  of  the 
artists. 

The  cares  of  governing"  the  household  generally  gave  occupa- 
tion enough  to  the  abbot  or  head  of  the  community ;  yet  he  is  often 
found  working  in  the  fields,  attending  to  the  cattle,  plowing  or 
digging,  or  taking  his  turn  in  bringing  corn  on  his  back  to  the 
mill  and  grinding  it  for  next  day's  food.  St.  Brigit,  accompanied 
by  a  few  of  her  nuns,  often  herded  her  sheep  on  the  level  sward 
round  her  nunnery  in  Kildare.  With  all  this  the  inmates  had  of 
course  their  devotions  and  in  most  monasteries  had  to  rise  at  sound 
of  bell  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  all  the  year  round,  and  go  to  the 
church  to  prayers.  Thus  they  led  a  busy  and  laborious  life,  con- 
tented and  cheerful  in  the  consciousness  that  they  were  doing  good 
and  useful  work. 

In  ancient  Ireland,  religion  and  education  went  hand  in  hand, 
so  that  in  tracing  their  history  it  is  impossible  to  separate  them. 
By  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  education  of  the  country  was  carried 
on  by,  or  under  the  direction  of,  priests  and  monks,  who  always 
combined  religious  with  secular  teaching. 

From  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  schools  rapidly  arose 
all  over  the  country,  most  of  them  in  connection  with  these  mon- 
asteries. Some  had  very  large  numbers  of  students,  for  we  are 
told  that  there  were  3000  under  St.  Finnen  at  Clonard,  and  some 
other  schools,  such  as  Bangor,  had  as  many.  A  few  of  the  students 
resided  in  the  college,  such  as  sons  of  kings  and  chiefs,  and  those 
who  were  literary  foster  children  of  the  professors,  but  the  most 
usual  arrangement  was  that  each  student  lived  in  a  little  hut  of 
wood  and  sods,  built  by  himself,  or  perhaps  two  or  more  joined 
and  built  a  more  commodious  house  for  common  use.  Whole  streets 
of  these  little  houses  surrounded  the  monastery.  The  huts  of  the 
scholars  of  St.  Movi  of  Glasnevin,  near  Dublin,  extended  along  the 
banks  of  the  river  Tolka  near  the  present  bridge.  At  stated  times 
the  students  came  forth  in  crowds  to  hear  the  lectures  of  the  pro- 
fessors, which  were  often  given  in  the  open  air. 

In  all  the  more  important  schools  there  were  students  from 
foreign  lands.  The  majority  were  from  Great  Britain,  from  which 
they  came  in  fleetloads,  as  Aldhelm,  an  English  bishop  of  the  year 
705,  expresses  it.  Numbers  also  came  from  the  Continent,  among 
whom   were  some   princes:     Aldfrid,    King   of   Northumbria,    and 


RELIGION     AND     LEARNING  So 

62S-700 

Dagobert  II.,  King  of  France,  both,  when  in  exile  in  the  seventh 
century,  found  an  asylum  and  were  educated  in  Ireland,  and  others 
of  like  rank  might  be  named.  We  get  some  idea  of  the  numbers  of 
foreigners  from  the  words  of  Aengus  the  Culdee,  an  Irish  writer  of 
the  ninth  century,  who  mentions  by  name  many  Romans,  Gauls,  Ger- 
mans, Britons,  and  even  Egyptians,  all  of  whom  died  in  Ireland. 
Venerable  Bede,  describing  the  ravages  of  the  yellow  plague  in 
664,  says :  "  This  pestilence  did  no  less  harm  in  the  island  of 
Ireland.  Many  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  lower  ranks  of  the  English 
nations  were  there  at  that  time :  and  some  of  them  devoted  them- 
selves to  a  monastic  life :  others  chose  to  apply  themselves  to  study. 
The  Scots  willingly  received  them  all,  and  took  care  to  supply  them 
with  food,  as  also  to  furnish  them  with  [manuscript]  books  to 
read,  and  their  teaching,  all  gratis." 

In  the  course  of  three  or  four  centuries  from  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick,  Ireland  became  the  most  learned  country  in  Europe :  and 
it  came  to  be  known  by  the  name  now  so  familiar  to  us — Insula 
sanctorum  et  doctorum,  the  Island  of  Saints  and  Scholars. 

In  these  great  seminaries  all  branches  of  knowledge  then  known 
were  taught ;  they  were,  in  fact,  the  models  of  our  present  universi- 
ties; and  besides  those  persons  preparing  for  a  religious  life,  great 
numbers  of  young  men,  both  native  and  foreign,  the  sons  of  kings, 
chiefs,  and  others,  attended  them  to  get  a  good  general  education. 
Laymen  who  distinguished  themselves  as  scholars  were  often  em- 
ployed as  professors  in  the  monastic  schools.  But  some  few  schools 
were  purely  lay  and  professional — for  law,  medicine,  poetry,  or 
literature,  and  these  were  taught  generally  by  laymen. 

At  these  colleges,  whether  clerical  or  lay,  they  had  various 
degrees,  as  there  are  in  modern  universities.  The  highest  was  that 
of  Ollave  or  Doctor ;  and  tliere  were  ollaves  of  the  several  profes- 
sions ;  so  that  a  man  might  be  an  ollave  poet,  an  ollave  historian, 
an  ollave  builder,  etc.,  just  as  we  have  now  doctors  of  law,  medicine, 
literature,  and  music.  The  full  course  for  an  ollave  was  twelve 
years;  the  lower  degrees  had  shorter  periods.  Men  of  learning 
were  held  in  great  estimation  and  were  much  honored.  They  had 
many  valuable  allowances  and  privileges ;  and  an  ollave  sat  at  table 
next  to  the  king  or  chief. 

Great  numbers  of  Irishmen  went  to  teach  and  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  Great  Britain,  Wales,  and  Scotland.  The  Picts  of  Scot- 
land, who   then  occupied   the  greatest  part  of  the  country,   were 


36  IRELAND 

634-800 

converted  by  St.  Columba  and  his  monks  from  lona,  and  the  whole 
western  coasts  of  England  and  Wales  abound  in  memorials  of  Irish 
missionaries.  The  monastery  of  Lindisfarne  in  Northumbria,  which 
became  so  illustrious  in  after  ages,  was  founded  in  634  by  Aidan,  an 
Irish  monk  from  lona,  and  for  thirty  years  after  its  foundation  it 
was  governed  by  him  and  by  two  other  Irish  bishops,  Finan  and 
Colman.  in  succession.  So  we  see  that  William  E.  H.  Lecky  had 
good  reason  for  his  statement  that  "  England  owed  a  great  part  of 
her  Christianity  to  Irish  monks  who  labored  among  her  people 
before  the  arrival  of  Augustine." 

Whole  crowds  of  ardent  and  learned  Irishmen  traveled  to  the 
Continent,  spreading  Christianity  and  general  knowledge  among 
])eople  ten  times  more  rude  and  dangerous  in  those  ages  than  the 
inhabitants  of  these  islands.  "  What,"  says  Eric,  a  well-known 
French  writer  of  the  ninth  century,  "  what  shall  I  say  of  Ireland, 
who,  despising  the  dangers  of  the  deep,  is  migrating  with  almost  her 
whole  train  of  philosophers  to  our  coasts?"  Irish  professors  and 
teachers  were  in  those  times  held  in  such  estimation  that  they  were 
employed  in  most  of  the  schools  and  colleges  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  Continent.  And  Irish  teachers  of  music  were  quite  as  eminent 
and  as  much  sought  after  as  those  of  literature  and  philosophy, 
as  has  been  already  stated.  We  know  that  Charlemagne,  who  was 
crowned  emperor  of  the  West,  800  a.  d.,  held  the  learned  men  from 
Ireland  in  great  respect,  and  often  invited  them  as  guests  to  liis 
table;  and  half  a  century  later,  Johannes  Scotus  Erigena  (John 
tlic  Irish  Scot),  the  greatest  scholar  of  his  day,  was  on  terms  of 
affectionate  intimacy  with  Charles  the  Bold,  King  of  France.  To 
lliis  day  in  many  towns  of  France,  Germany.  Switzerland,  and  Italy. 
Irishmen  are  venerated  as  patron  saints.  Nay,  they  found  their 
w ay  e\en  to  Iceland ;  for  we  have  the  best  authority  for  the  state- 
ment tliat  when  the  Norwegians  first  arrived  at  that  island,  they 
found  there  Irish  books,  bells,  crosiers,  and  other  traces  of  Irish 
missionaries. 

h'or  four  or  five  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  St.  Patrick, 
the  monasteries  v  ere  unmolested,  and  learning  was  cultivated  within 
tlieir  walls.  In  the  ninth  and  tenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  eleventli 
century,  science  and  art,  the  Gaelic  language,  and  learning  of  every 
kind,  were  brought  to  their  highest  state  of  perfection.  But  a 
change  for  the  worse  had  set  in.  The  Danisli  inroads  broke  up  most 
of  the  schools  and  threw  cvcrvthing  into  disorder.     Then  the  mon- 


RELIGION     AND     LEARNING  37 

SOO-1022 

asteries  were  no  longer  the  quiet  and  safe  asylums  they  had  been 
— they  became  indeed  rather  more  dangerous  than  other  places,  so 
much  did  the  Danes  hate  them — and  learning  and  art  gradually  de- 
clined in  Ireland.  There  was  a  revival  in  the  time  of  Brian  Boru, 
but  this  too  was  arrested  by  the  troubles  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
Invasion. 


Chapter    VIII 

THE    IRISH    KINGS.    463-1022   A.    D. 

tVEGAIRE,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  son  of  Niall  of  the 
Nine  Hostages.  A  few  years  after  his  death  a  battle  was 
-/  fought  by  his  son  Lewy  at  Tara,  which  decided  the  king- 
ship in  favor  of  the  Hy  Neills  for  five  centuries. 

From  the  cliffs  of  Antrim,  on  any  clear  day,  you  can  see  the 
blue  hills  and  headlands  of  Scotland,  forming  a  long  line  on  the 
distant  horizon.  The  Irish,  or  Gaels,  or  Scots,  of  Ulster,  from  the 
earliest  ages,  were  in  the  habit  of  crossing  over  in  their  currachs 
to  this  lovely-looking  coast,  and  some  carried  on  a  regular  trade 
with  Alban,  as  Scotland  was  then  called,  and  many  settled  there 
and  made  it  their  home.  Three  hundred  years  before  a  large  num- 
ber of  Munster  fighting  men  had  settled  among  the  Picts,  and  the 
district  was  called  Dalriada.  Now  in  the  reign  of  Lewy,  503  a.  d., 
came  the  greatest  of  the  colonizations  of  Scotland,  under  the 
brothers  Fergus,  Angus,  and  Lome.  They  and  their  people  were 
all  Christians.  Their  colonial  kingdom  was  subject  and  tributary 
to  the  kings  of  Ireland,  and  continued  so  for  nearly  three-quarters 
of  a  century.  When  then  the  Scottish  king  refused  to  pay  the  tribute 
a  dangerous  dispute  arose,  to  settle  which  a  famous  meeting  was 
held  at  Drum-Kelta.  Among  other  eminent  men,  St.  Columba  came 
over  from  lona  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations,  and  mainly  through 
his  influence,  the  king  of  Ireland  wisely  agreed  that  the  little  Scot- 
tish kingdom  should  be  then  and  for  evermore  independent  of  the 
Irish  monarchs.  The  people  of  this  colony,  having  now  free  scope 
for  their  energies,  ultimately  mastered  the  whole  country.  Fergus 
was  the  ancestor  of  the  subsequent  kings  of  Scotland,  and  from  him, 
through  the  Stuarts,  descend,  in  one  of  their  lines  of  pedigree,  the 
present  royal  family  of  England. 

Another  important  matter  considered  at  this  convention  was 
the  position  of  bards  or  poets,  who  were  becoming  insolent  and 
troublesome,  traveling  about  the  country  and  demanding  entertain- 

38 


THE     IRISH     KINGS  39 

574-846 

ment.  The  proposition  to  suppress  the  entire  order  of  bards  was 
moderated  through  Columba's  influence,  and  they  were  put  under 
strict  rules. 

Troubles  over  the  Boru  tax  disturbed  several  kings  after  this, 
but  about  675  King  Finaghta  solemnly  renounced  the  Boru  for 
himself  and  his  successors.  This,  however,  did  not  end  the  trouble. 
After  the  lapse  of  some  reigns  other  kings  renewed  the  claim,  and 
two  more  destructive  battles  were  fought  on  account  of  it;  after 
which  this  ill-omened  tribute  gradually  fell  into  disuse,  leaving, 
however,  an  evil  mark  on  the  country. 

Before  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  the  Danes  began  to 
make  descents  on  the  coasts  of  Europe.  From  Jutland,  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  in  general  from  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the  Baltic, 
came  forth  swarms  of  daring  robbers,  who  for  two  centuries  kept 
the  whole  of  western  Europe  in  a  state  of  continual  terror.  They 
appeared  for  the  first  time  on  the  Irish  coast  in  795  a.  d.,  when  they 
plundered  St.  Columba's  church  on  Lambay  Island  near  Dublin, 
Once  they  had  found  the  way,  party  after  party  continued  to  sail 
to  Ireland,  plundering  and  murdering  wherever  they  came.  They 
soon  found  out  that  many  of  the  monasteries  were  rich  in  works 
of  art:  such  as  crosiers,  shrines,  books,  bells,  etc.,  ormanented  with 
much  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones ;  and  as  they  hated  Chris- 
tianity and  learning  of  all  kinds,  they  had  a  double  motive  in  seek- 
ing out  these  establishments.  Accordingly  they  plundered  churches, 
monasteries,  and  libraries,  both  on  the  islands  and  on  the  mainland, 
and  what  they  could  not  bring  away  tliey  burned  or  otherwise  de- 
stroyed, so  far  as  lay  in  their  power.  Their  movements,  moreover, 
were  so  sudden  and  quick,  that  they  generally  made  tlieir  escape  be- 
fore the  people  b.ad  time  to  intercept  tliem.  About  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century  they  established  themselves  permanently  in  Dublin, 
Limerick,  and  Waterford,  where  they  built  fortresses. 

For  some  time  in  the  beginning  the  Danes  came  in  detached 
bands,  each  small  party  plundering  on  their  own  account,  with  no 
combined  action.  But  at  length,  in  832  a.  d.,  their  scattered  forces 
were  united  under  their  most  renowned  leader,  Turgesius,  who  ar- 
rived with  a  great  fleet,  and  was  acknowledged  leader  by  all  the 
Danes  then  in  Ireland.  Otlier  fleets  soon  followed  under  his  direc- 
tion; and  he  plundered  and  desecrated  churches  until  he  was  de- 
feated and  taken  prisoner  by  Malachi,  King  of  ]\Ieath,  ulio  became 
Ard-ri,  as  Malachi   1.  in  the  year  846. 


40  IRELAND 

846-976 

The  Danes  were  often  intercepted  in  their  murderous  raids 
and  slaughtered  without  mercy  by  the  Irish  kings  and  chiefs:  but 
this  had  not  much  effect  in  putting  a  stop  to  their  ravages ;  for  they 
were  bold  and  brave,  and  faced  danger  and  death  with  the  utmost 
fearlessness.  Moreover  there  was  seldom  any  union  among  the 
Irish  chiefs,  who  often  fought  more  bitterly  against  each  other  than 
against  the  Northmen,  and  while  they  were  fighting,  the  Danes  were 
plundering. 

In  the  second  half  of  this  tenth  century  the  tide  commenced 
to  turn  \\hen  two  great  men  began  their  career:  Malachi  II.,  or 
Malachi  ihc  Great  as  he  is  often  called,  who  became  King  of  Ire- 
land in  980,  and  Brian  Boru,  king  of  Munster,  the  man  who  was 
destined  to  crush  finally  the  power  of  the  Danes  in  Ireland. 

When  Brian  was  a  young  man,  his  elder  brother  Mahon  was 
king  of  Munster.  At  this  time  the  Danes  held  the  chief  fortresses 
of  tliat  province,  and  for  a  while  the  two  brothers  liad  to  take  refuge 
in  the  woods.  The  career  of  young  Brian  was  singularly  like  tliat 
of  Alfred  the  Great,  who  lived  only  a  short  time  before:  at  first 
borne  down  and  driven  to  hide  with  a  few  followers  in  remote 
fastnesses  by  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  Danes,  but  gradually 
gaining  ground  by  never-failing  pluck  and  determination.  Even 
the  brave  >Mahon  at  one  time  found  it  necessary  to  make  peace,  but 
the  fiery  young  Brian  would  have  no  peace-dealings  with  the  Danes, 
and  at  last  the  two  brothers  routed  them  in  a  decisive  battle  at 
Sulcoit.  Shortly  after  Mahon  was  basely  assassinated,  and  Brian 
was  overwhelmed  with  grief.  The  old  Irish  record  represents  him 
as  uttering  this  lament: 

'■  The  death  of   Mahon  is   grievous  to  me — 
The  majestic  king  of  Cashel  the  renowned; 
Alas,  alas  that  he  fell  not  in  battle. 
Under   cover  of  his   broad   shield: 
Alas,  that  in  friendship  he  trusted 
To  the  treacherous  word  of  his  betraj'er. 
Jt  was  an  evil  deed  for  those  three  chiefs 
To   murder   the   great   and    majestic   king; 
And  if  my  hand  retains  its  power, 
'1  hey  shall  not  escape  my  vengeance." 

By  this  \  il!ainr)us  deed  Brian  became  king  of  Munster.  and  his 
first  care  was  to  axcnge  his  brother's  murder,  whicli  he  did  by  de- 
leatiiii;-  and  slaving-  the  tlnx'c  assassins  one  after  another,     l-'mni 


THE     IRISH     KINGS  41 

976-1002 

that  time  forward,  for  about  twenty-five  years,  his  life  was  one 
of  incessant  warfare,  chiefly  against  the  Danes. 

Meantime  Malachi,  in  his  own  part  of  the  country,  was  strug- 
gling against  the  foreigners  bravely  and  successfully.  He  defeated 
them  in  a  great  battle  at  Tara  in  979,  the  year  before  he  was  elected 
king  of  Ireland;  and  marching  eastw^ard,  he  took  Dublin  and 
liberated  2000  captives.  Some  time  afterward,  however,  the  Danes 
recovered  the  city,  whereupon  he  again  swooped  suddenly  down, 
and  captured  and  plundered  it  in  996. 

For  many  years  after  Malachi 's  accession  in  980,  he  and  Brian 
quarreled  and  fought,  but  at  length  in  998  they  agreed  to  divide 
Ireland  between  them — Malachi  taking  the  North  and  Brian  the 
South.  This  displeased  Mailmora,  King  of  Leinster,  and  he  joined 
the  Danes.  Brian  and  Malachi  united  and  defeated  and  slew  4000 
of  the  Danes  and  Leinstermen,  in  999. 

About  this  time  Brian  came  to  the  determination  to  depose 
Malachi;  and  the  better  to  strengthen  himself  he  made  alliances 
W'ith  those  who  had  lately  been  his  enemies.  His  next  proceeding 
was  to  invade  Malachi's  territory,  in  1002,  in  violation  of  the  treaty 
of  four  years  before ;  and  he  sent  to  him  demanding  submission  or 
battle.  Malachi  finding  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  resist,  rode 
into  Brian's  encampment  with  merely  a  small  retinue,  and  without 
any  guarantee  or  promise  of  safety,  depending  on  Brian's  honor, 
and  having  told  him  plainly  he  w^ould  fight  if  he  had  been  strong 
enough,  he  made  his  submission.  From  that  year,  Brian  was  ac- 
knowledged king  of  Ireland,  Malachi  going  back  to  his  own  special 
kingdom  of  Meath. 

After  forty  years  of  incessant  warfare  King  Brian  now  de- 
voted his  mind  to  works  of  peace,  like  the  great  Alfred  of  England. 
His  palace,  which  was  named  Kincora,  was  situated  on  the  high 
ridge  over  the  vShannon  now  occupied  by  the  town  of  Killaloe.  He 
rebuilt  the  monasteries  that  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  and 
erected  bridges  and  fortresses  all  over  tl:e  country.  He  founded 
and  restored  schools  and  colleges,  repressed  evil-doers,  and  caused 
tlie  laws  to  be  obeyed,  so  that  the  country  was  less  disturbed  and 
more  prosperous  than  it  had  been  for  a  long  time.  The  bright  pic- 
ture handed  down  to  us  of  the  state  of  Ireland  during  the  dozen 
yerirs  that  elapsed  from  his  accession  to  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  is 
illustrated  by  the  well-known  legend,  that  a  beautiful  young  lady 
richly  dressed,  and  bearing  a  gold  ring  of  great  value  on  her  wand. 


42  IRELAND 

1002-1014 

traversed  the  country  alone  from  north  to  south  without  being 
molested:  a  fiction  which  Moore  has  embalmed  in  the  beautiful 
song  "  Rich  and  Rare  Were  the  Gems  She  Wore." 

Although  chafing  under  Brian  Boru's  rule,  the  Danes  dared  not 
make  any  hostile  move,  for  the  old  king  was  stern  and  strong,  and 
while  they  hated  him  much  they  feared  him  more.  It  is  likely  that 
in  the  long  run  they  would  have  taken  some  opportunity  to  break 
out  and  attempt  his  overthrow ;  yet  the  immediate  circumstances 
that  led  to  the  battle  of  Clontarf  were  brought  about,  not  by  them, 
but  by  Alailmora,  king  of  Leinster,  and  the  occasion  was  a  personal 
matter.  With  some  of  the  Danes  he  attacked  Malachi,  who  called  on 
Brian  for  help,  and  the  war  went  on  without  much  result  till  Christ- 
mas, when  the  king  returned  to  Kincora,  determined  to  renew  the 
campaign  in  the  following  spring. 

Mailmora  and  the  Danish  leaders  now  began  actively  at  the 
work  of  mustering  forces  for  the  final  struggle.  Sitric  of  the 
Silken  Beard,  Danish  king  of  Dublin,  acting  under  the  directions 
of  Gormlaith,  the  discarded  wife  of  Brian,  engaged  the  services  of 
Sigurd,  Earl  of  the  Orkneys,  as  well  as  of  Broder  and  Amlaff  of 
the  Isle  of  Man,  the  two  earls  of  all  the  north  of  England,  who 
promised  to  be  in  Dublin  on  Palm  Sunday,  the  day  fixed  on  for  the 
meeting  of  all  the  confederates.  These  two  Vikings  brought  2000 
men  "  having  no  reverence  for  God  or  for  man,  for  church  or  for 
sanctuary."  There  came  also  loco  men  covered  with  coats  of 
mail  from  head  to  foot :  a  very  formidable  -band,  seeing  that  the 
Irish  fought  as  usual  in  tunics.  Envoys  were  dispatched  in  other 
directions  also :  and  troops  of  Norsemen  sailed  toward  Dublin  from 
Scotland,  from  the  Isles  of  Shetland,  from  the  Hebrides,  from 
France  and  Germany,  and  from  the  distant  shores  of  Scandinavia. 
While  Sitric  and  others  were  thus  successfully  working  abroad, 
]\Iailinora  was  equally  active  at  home;  and  collected  the  forces  of 
Leinster  and  arranged  them  in  three  great  battalions  within  and 
arcmnd  the  walls  of  Dublin. 

The  Irish  monarch  had  now  no  time  to  lose.  On  Holy  Thurs- 
day evening  the  king  got  word  that  the  Danes  were  making  prepar- 
ations to  fight  next  day — Good  Friday.  The  good  King  Brian 
was  very  unwilling  to  fight  on  that  solemn  day,  but  he  was  not  able 
to  avoid  it.  At  dawn  of  day  on  Friday,  April  23,  1014,  the 
Irish  army  began  their  march  from  their  encampment  in  three 
divisions.      There  were  also  two  companies  brought  by  the  great 


THE     IRISH     KINGS  43 

1014 

Stewards  of  Mar  and  Lennox  in  Scotland,  who  were  related  to  the 
southern  Irish,  and  who  now  come  to  aid  them  in  their  hour  of 
need.  The  men  of  Meath,  the  southern  Hy  Neill,  were  also  there 
under  Malachi :  the  northern  Hy  Neill  took  no  part  in  the  battle. 
With  the  exception  of  Brian's  son  Donogh,  who  had  been  sent  to 
devastate  Leinster,  every  living  man  of  the  old  king's  family  stood 
there  that  day  to  fight  by  his  side.  The  ranks  were  in  very  close 
order ;  so  solid  looking  that,  in  the  language  of  one  of  the  old  rec- 
ords, it  seemed  as  if  a  chariot  could  be  driven  along  on  their  heads. 
The  Danish  and  Leinster  forces  also  formed  three  divisions.  In 
the  van  were  the  foreign  Danes  under  the  command  of  Broder  and 
Sigurd ;  behind  these  were  the  Danes  of  Dublin,  and  the  Leinster 
men,  led  by  Mailmora,  formed  the  third  division.  Sitric,  the  King 
of  Dublin,  was  not  in  the  battle;  he  remained  behind  to  guard  the 
city.  We  are  not  told  the  numbers  engaged,  but  there  were  prob- 
ably about  20,000  men  on  each  side. 

In  the  march  from  the  camping  place  the  venerable  monarch 
rode  at  the  head  of  the  army,  but  his  sons  and  friends  prevailed  on 
him,  on  account  of  his  age — he  was  now  seventy-three — to  leave  the 
chief  command  to  his  son  Murrogh.  W^hen  they  had  come  near 
the  place  of  conflict,  the  army  halted ;  and  the  king,  holding  aloft 
a  crucifix  in  sight  of  all,  rode  from  rank  to  rank  and  addressed  them 
in  a  few  spirited  words.  He  reminded  them  that  on  that  day  their 
good  Lord  had  died  for  them,  and  he  exhorted  them  to  fight  bravely 
for  their  religion  and  their  country.  Then  giving  the  signal  for 
battle,  he  withdrew  to  his  tent  in  the  rear. 

Little  or  no  tactics  appear  to  have  been  employed.  It  was 
simply  a  fight  of  man  against  man,  a  series  of  hand-to-hand  encoun- 
ters, and  the  commanders  fought  side  by  side  with  their  men.  On 
the  evening  before  a  Dane  named  Piatt,  one  of  the  thousand  in 
armor,  had  challenged  any  man  of  the  Irish  army  to  single  combat, 
and  he  was  taken  up  by  Donall,  the  Great  Steward  of  Alar.  They 
fought  in  sight  of  the  two  armies  till  both  fell,  with  the  sword  of 
each  through  the  heart  of  the  other,  and  hands  entangled  in  each 
other's  hair.  The  first  divisions  to  meet  were  the  Delcassians  and 
the  foreign  Danes,  then  the  men  of  Connaught  and  the  Danes  of 
Dublin  fell  on  one  another,  and  the  battle  soon  became  general. 
From  early  morning  until  sunset  they  fought  without  the  least  inter- 
mission. The  thousand  Danes  in  coats  of  mail  were  marked  out  for 
special  attack,  and  tliey  were  all  rut  to  pieces,  for  tlieir  nrmor  was 


44  IRELAND 

1014 

no  protection  against  the  terrible  battle-axes  of  the  Delcassians.  In 
the  city  Sitric  and  those  with  him  strained  their  eyes  to  unravel  the 
details  of  tlie  terrible  conflict.  The  old  chronicle  describes  Murrogh 
as  dealing  fearful  havoc.  He  mowed  down  men  to  the  right  and 
left:  for  he  wielded  a  heavy  sword  in  each  hand,  and  needed  no 
second  blow.  At  last  he  came  on  Earl  Sigurd,  whom  he  found 
slaughtering  the  Delcassians.  He  slew  his  standard-bearer ;  and  he 
and  Sigurd  had  a  hard  fight,  but  neither  Sigurd's  magic  banner 
nor  strength  availed,  and  he  was  felled  to  the  earth. 

Toward  evening  the  Irish  made  a  general  and  determined 
attack,  and  the  main  body  of  the  Danes  at  last  gave  way — or,  as 
the  Danish  Saga  expresses  it,  "  Then  flight  broke  out  throughout 
all  the  host."  Crowds  fled  along  the  level  shore  toward  Dublin, 
vainly  hoping  to  reach  either  the  ships  or  the  bridge  leading  to  the 
city.  But  Malachi,  who  had  stood  by  till  this  moment,  rushed  down 
with  his  Meathmen  and  cut  off  their  retreat.  When  the  battle 
commenced  in  the  morning  there  was  high  tide,  and  now,  after  the 
long  day,  the  tide  was  again  at  flood,  so  that  the  ships  lay  beyond 
reach  far  out  from  shore.  The  flying  multitude  were  caught  be- 
tween the  Meathmen  on  the  one  side  and  the  sea  on  the  other,  with 
the  vengeful  pursuers  close  behind,  and  most  of  those  who  escaped 
the  sword  were  driven  into  the  sea  and  drowned.  The  greatest 
slaughter  of  the  Danes  took  place  during  this  rout,  on  the  level 
space  now  covered  with  streets,  from  Ballybough  Bridge  to  the 
Four  Courts. 

So  far  we  have  related  the  disasters  of  the  Danes.  But  the 
Irish  had  their  disasters  also;  and  dearly  did  they  pay  for  their 
great  victory.  After  the  rout  of  the  Danish  main  body,  Murrogh 
came  upon  one  of  their  scattered  parties,  and  though  he  overcame 
tlie  Danish  leader,  he  received  a  mortal  wound  and  died  the  next 
morning.  Brian's  fifteen-year-old  grandson  also  died,  being 
drowned  with  a  Dane  whom  he  had  pursued. 

But  the  crowning  tragedy  of  the  bloody  day  of  Clontarf  was 
yet  to  come.  The  aged  king  remained  in  his  tent  engaged  in  earnest 
prayer,  while  he  listened  anxiously  to  the  din  of  battle.  From 
time  to  time  he  asked  his  servant  how  the  battle  went,  and  the  serv- 
ant answered  as  well  as  he  could  see.  Toward  evening  he  reported 
the  ranks  as  thinning,  "  and  only  a  few  great  heroes  are  left  to 
maintain  tlie  light.  The  foreigners  are  now  defeated,  but  the 
standard  of  Murrogh  has  fallen." 


THE     IRISH     KINGS  45 

1014-1022 

"  Evil  are  those  tidings,"  said  the  old  warrior  king ;  "  if  Mur- 
rogh  is  fallen  the  valor  of  the  men  of  Erin  is  fled,  and  they  shall 
never  more  look  on  a  champion  like  him."  And  again  he  knelt  and 
prayed. 

And  now  came  the  great  rout;  and  the  guards  of  the  king, 
thinking  all  danger  past,  eagerly  joined  in  the  pursuit,  so  that  the 
king  and  his  attendant  were  left  alone.  The  king  refused  to  flee, 
but  spoke  his  last  will  to  the  attendant,  and  after  this  he  resumed  his 
prayers. 

It  happened  that  Broder,  who  had  fled  from  the  battle-field, 
came  with  some  followers  at  this  very  time  toward  the  tent.  The 
servant  so  told  the  king,  who  rose  from  his  cushion,  and  with  his 
heavy  sword  cut  off  both  of  Broder's  legs,  but  the  Viking,  even 
while  falling,  cleft  the  king's  head  with  the  axe.  When  the  guards 
returned,  they  found  the  king  dead. 

As  to  the  numbers  killed,  the  records  differ  greatly.  Accord- 
ing to  the  annals  of  Ulster  7000  fell  on  the  Danish  side  and  4000 
on  the  Irish,  which  is  probably  about  the  truth.  Almost  all  the 
leaders  on  both  sides  were  slain,  and  among  them  Mailmora,  the 
direct  inciter  of  the  battle. 

The  battle  of  Clontarf  was  the  last  great  struggle  between 
Christianity  and  heathenism.  The  news  resounded  through  all 
Europe,  and  brought  dismay  and  terror  to  every  Norse  household 
from  the  Baltic  shore  to  their  furtherest  settlements  in  the  south. 
The  Nial  Saga — the  Danish  chronicle — relates  the  whole  story  of 
the  battle  as  a  great  defeat,  and  tells  of  fearful  visions  and  portents 
seen  by  the  Scandinavian  people  in  their  homes  in  the  north,  on  that 
fatal  Good  Friday.  It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  in  the  very 
year  of  this  great  battle,  Swe^m  the  Dane  overran  and  mastered 
England,  and  that  after  his  death  three  Danish  kings  ruled  the 
country  in  succession. 

After  the  battle  of  Clontarf  and  the  death  of  Brian,  Malachi, 
by  general  consent,  took  possession  of  the  throne.  He  reigned  for 
eight  years  after,  and  gave  evidence  of  his  old  energy  by  crushing 
some  risings  of  the  Danes — feeble  expiring  imitations  of  their 
ancient  ferocious  raids — and  by  gaining  several  victories  over  the 
Eeinstermen.  He  died  in  1022,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 
age,  leaving  behind  him  a  noble  record  of  self-denial,  public  spirit, 
and  kingly  dignity. 


Chapter  IX 

THE   ANGLO-NORMANS.     1022-1175 

BETWEEN  the  death  of  Malachi  II.  and  the  Anglo-Norman 
.  invasion  about  a  century  and  a  half  elapsed,  which  was  a 
'period  of  great  confusion,  for  the  provincial  kings  waged 
incessant  war  with  one  another,  striving  who  should  be  Ard-ri. 
These  dissensions  so  weakened  the  country  that  the  first  Anglo- 
Norman  invaders  met  with  only  a  fitful  and  feeble  resistance,  and 
gained  a  foothold  without  any  very  great  difficulty.  Yet  amid  all 
this  turmoil,  the  Irish  kings  continued  to  patronize  and  encourage 
learning  and  art,  as  is  proved  by  works  still  remaining. 

During  this  time  there  were  eight  provincial  kings  who  are 
commonly  set  down  as  kings  of  Ireland,  but  not  one  of  them  made 
any  pretense  to  rule  the  whole  country;  to  every  one  there  was 
opposition — a  refusal  to  acknowledge  his  authority — from  some  one 
or  more  of  the  provinces.  Hence  these  eight  are  known  in  history 
as  "  kings  with  opposition." 

The  first  was  Donogh,  king  of  Munster,  son  of  Brian  Boru, 
who  mastered  all  Ireland  except  Ulster,  on  which  he  never  made 
any  attempt.  After  some  years  he  was  deposed  by  rivals,  and  went 
on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  where  he  died. 

After  him,  the  "  kings  with  opposition  "  were  not  prominent. 
In  1 166,  Roderick  O'Conor,  king  of  Connaught.  having  now  no 
rival  of  any  consequence,  was  made  Ard-ri.  He  was  the  last  native 
king  of  Irelar.d,  and  in  his  reign  occurred  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant events  in  the  long  history  of  the  country. 

During  this  century  and  a  half  we  hear  little  of  the  Danes. 
After  the  battle  of  Clontarf  no  attempt  was  made  to  expel  them,  so 
they  remained  in  the  country,  but  from  that  time  forward  they  gave 
little  trouble.  Long  before  the  period  we  have  now  arrived  at 
they  had  become  Christians,  had  settled  down  like  the  rest  of  the 
people,  and  devoted  themselves  to  industry  and  commerce.  At 
the  time  of  the  Invasion  they  formed  a  large  part  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  seaport  towns— Dublin,  Carlingford.  Larne.  Wexford,  Water- 
ford.  Limerick,  and  Cork,  some  of  which  were  governed  by  Danisli 

4fi 


ANGLO-NORMANS  17 

1022-1166 

chiefs,  in  a  great  measure  or  altogether  independent  of  the  Irish 
princes.  Their  towns  were  walled  and  fortified,  while  those  of  the 
natives  continued,  after  the  Irish  fashion,  open  and  unprotected. 
Although  living  very  much  apart,  they  intermarried  a  good  deal 
with  the  natives,  stood  on  the  whole  on  good  terms  with  them,  and 
at  first,  as  we  shall  see,  generally  took  sides  with  them  against  the 
new  invaders. 

Though  most  of  the  great  educational  establishments  had  been 
broken  up  during  the  Danish  ravages,  many  rose  from  their  ruins 
or  held  their  ground.  There  was  a  revival  of  learning  and  art  in 
the  time  of  Brian  Boru,  which  continued  after  the  Danes  had  been 
crushed  at  Clontarf.  Even  to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century 
Ireland  still  retained  some  portion  of  her  ancient  fame  for  learning, 
and  we  find  the  schools  of  Armagh,  Lismore,  Clonmacnoise,  Monas- 
terboice,  and  others,  still  attracting  great  numbers  of  students, 
many  of  them  foreigners.  Moreover,  some  of  the  greatest  scholars 
and  writers  the  country  ever  produced  flourished  at  this  time,  whose 
works  we  still  have  in  our  old  books ;  and  Irishmen  still  continued 
to  distinguish  themselves  on  the  Continent,  Art,  too,  was  success- 
fully cultivated  in  spite  of  all  discouragements,  and  the  exquisitely 
executed  Cross  of  Cong  w^as  made  in  1123. 

The  Anglo-Normans,  who  are  henceforward  to  play  a  leading 
part  in  our  history,  were  a  great  race,  valiant,  high-spirited,  full  of 
talents  and  full  of  energy.  They  were  great  builders,  and  filled 
England  and  Ireland  with  splendid  castles,  monasteries,  and  cathe- 
drals, many  of  which  still  remain  to  bear  witness  to  the  grand  ideas 
of  their  founders.  But  it  is  as  mighty  warriors  that  they  are  best 
known.  Besides  being  personally  brave  and  daring,  they  were 
very  skillful  in  the  sort  of  warfare  and  fighting  suited  to  those  times. 
They  wore  coats  of  mail,  were  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  archery, 
using  both  the  long  and  the  cross  bow,  and  what  more  than  all 
helped  to  their  success  in  war,  they  were  under  perfect  discipline 
on  the  field  of  battle.  But  with  all  their  noble  qualities  they  were 
cruel  and  merciless  to  those  who  resisted  them. 

The  Irish  mode  of  going  to  battle  was  totally  different.  They 
were,  man  for  man,  as  brave  and  as  expert  in  the  use  of  their  wea- 
pons as  the  Anglo-Normans,  quite  as  tall  and  muscular,  as  fearless 
and  valiant.  The  Irish  soldiers,  especially  the  galloglasses,  are 
})raised  by  many  English  writers,  one  of  whom,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  says  of  them :  "  The  galloglasses  are  picked  and  selected 


48  IRELAND 

1022-1163 

men  of  great  and  mighty  bodies,  cruel  without  compassion.  The 
greatest  force  of  the  battle  consisteth  in  their  choosing  rather  to  die 
than  to  yield,  so  that  when  it  cometh  to  handy  blows  they  are  quickly 
slain  or  win  the  field."  Spenser,  writing  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
says:  "  [The  Irish  soldiers]  are  very  valiant,  and  hardie,  for  the 
most  part  great  indurers  of  colde,  labour,  hunger,  and  all  hardnesse, 
very  active  and  strong  of  hand,  very  swift  of  foot,  very  vigilant 
and  circumspect  in  their  enterprises,  very  present  [i.  e.,  having  pres- 
ence of  mind]  in  perils,  very  great  scorners  of  death." 

But  the  Irish  fighting  men  lacked  the  great  tactical  skill  of 
their  opponents,  their  discipline  was  loose,  and  they  fought  rather  in 
crowds,  than  in  regularly  arranged  ranks.  They  had  no  w-alled 
cities.  Their  surest  defense  was  the  nature  of  the  country,  full  of 
impassable  bogs  and  forests ;  and  their  best  plan  of  warfare  was  to 
hang  on  the  flanks  and  rear  of  an  invading  army  and  harass  them 
as  opportunity  offered,  retreating,  when  hard  pressed,  to  their 
fastnesses,  whither  no  enemy  could  follow.  So  long  as  they  kept 
to  this  they  could  hold  their  ow-n,  and  often  did,  even  against 
superior  numbers.  But  in  open  fighting  their  tunic-clad  crowds 
were,  number  for  number,  no  match  for  the  steel-cased  Anglo-Nor- 
man battalions.  Nevertheless,  as  time  went  on  they  gradually 
learned  the  Anglo-Norman  methods  of  warfare,  and  often  turned 
them  successfully  against  the  invaders. 

Dermot  MacMurrogh  was  King  of  Leinster  about  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century.  He  was  a  headstrong  and  passionate  man, 
and  w-as  as  much  hated  in  his  own  day  as  his  memory  has  been 
hated  ever  since.  In  1152  he  carried  off  Dervorgilla,  the  wife  of 
Tergnan  O'Rourke,  Prince  of  Brefni.  while  O'Rourke  himself 
was  absent  from  home.  This  and  other  conduct  caused  him  to 
L'C  deposed  and  banished,  whereupon,  breathing  venegance,  he  fled 
across  the  sea,  resolved  to  seek  the  aid  of  the  great  King  Henry 
II.  of  England. 

]\Iany  years  before  this  time,  Pope  Adrian  IV.,  an  Englishman, 
influenced  by  an  unfair  and  exaggerated  account  of  the  evil  state 
of  religion  in  Ireland  given  to  him  by  an  envoy  of  King  Henry, 
issued  a  bull  authorizing  the  king  to  take  possession  of  Ireland. 
Some  writers  have  c|uestioned  the  issue  of  this  bull.  But  the  evi- 
dence is  strong  on  tlie  other  side  that  the  Pope  did  really  issue  it, 
believing  that  it  would  be  for  the  advancement  of  religion  and  for 
the  good  of  Ireland. 


ANGLO-NORMANS  49 

1168-1169 

Dermot  presented  himself  before  the  king  at  Aquitaine,  and 
prayed  him  for  help  against  his  enemies,  offering  to  acknowledge 
him  as  lord  and  master.  The  king  accepted  the  ofTer;  but  being 
then  too  busy  with  the  affairs  of  his  own  kingdom  to  go  to  Ireland 
himself,  he  gave  permission  to  any  of  his  British  or  French  subjects 
that  pleased  to  join  the  Irish  king.  Dermot  immediately  proceeded 
to  Bristol,  where  he  engaged  the  services  of  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  better  known  by  the  name  of  Strongbow,  who  agreed 
to  help  him  on  condition  that  he  should  have  Dermot's  daughter 
Eva  in  marriage,  and  should  succeed  him  as  king  of  Leinster.  At 
St.  David's  in  Wales  he  engaged  a  number  of  the  Geraldines,  among 
them  Maurice  Fitzgerald  and  Robert  Fitzstephen,  to  whom  he  prom- 
ised the  town  of  Wexford  and  the  adjoining  district.  After  this 
Dermot  returned  to  his  capital,  where  he  remained  during  the  win- 
ter of  1 1 68. 

In  fulfillment  of  his  engagement,  Robert  Fitzstephen,  with  a 
companion  adventurer,  Maurice  Prendergast,  landed  in  the  month 
of  May  succeeding  at  the  harbor  of  Bannow  in  Wexford,  with  a 
force  of  lOO  knights  and  6oo  archers,  with  common  soldiers  and 
attendants,  amounting  in  all  to  about  2000  men;  while  Maurice 
Fitzgerald  and  others  made  their  preparations  to  follow.  Having 
been  joined  by  Dermot  and  his  son  Donall  Kavanagh.  the  united 
forces  marched  on  the  town  of  Wexford,  and  Fitzsteplien  straight- 
way led  his  troops  to  scale  the  v/alls.  The  first  attack  was  valiantly 
repulsed.  Next  morning,  when  he  was  about  to  renew  the  assault, 
the  clergy,  wishing  to  avoid  further  bloodshed,  persuaded  the  people 
already  awed  to  yield  up  the  town,  and  Dermot's  subjects  very  un- 
willingly placed  themselves  again  under  the  authority  of  their  hated 
king.  After  this,  Dermot  carried  out  his  promise  by  making  large 
grants  of  land  to  Fitzstephen  and  others.  And  having  an  old 
grudge  against  his  neighbor,  Mac  Gilla  Patrick,  King  of  Ossory, 
he  and  the  strangers  ravished  that  district  with  fire  and  sword, 
though  not  without  spirited  resistance. 

When  King  Roderick  O'Conor  heard  of  these  proceedings, 
he  became  alarmed,  and  collecting  a  large  army  he  marched  to 
Ferns,  where  he  found  Dermot  and  his  allies  strongly  entrenched. 
But  Roderick  was  a  feeble-minded  king,  having  none  of  the  spirit 
or  vigor  of  Niall  Glunduff  or  Brian  Boru  of  the  olden  time;  and 
instead  of  promptly  crushing  the  rebellious  king  and  his  small  party 
of  foreigners,  as  he  might  liave  done,  he  made  peace  with  him,  and 


50  IRELAND 

1169-1171 

restored  him  to  his  kingdom,  on  condition  that  he  should  send  home 
the  strangers,  and  bring  hither  no  more  of  them.  The  treacherous 
Dermot  had  no  intention  of  keeping  to  this  treaty :  he  merely  wanted 
to  gain  time,  and  when  Maurice  Fitzgerald  landed  soon  afterward, 
the  whole  party,  natives  and  foreigners,  marched  on  Dublin  and 
forced  the  Danish  king  Hasculf  Mac  Turkill  to  submit  to  them. 

At  last  Dermot  resolved  to  make  himself  king  of  Ireland,  and 
sent  a  pressing  message  to  Strongbow  to  come  over.  Strongbow 
embarked  with  an  army  of  3000  men,  and  landed,  in  August  of 
1 170,  near  Waterford,  He  was  immediately  joined  by  Raymond 
Fitzgerald,  better  known  as  Raymond  le  Gros  (the  corpulent),  the 
bravest  and  most  distinguished  of  all  his  officers — who  had  come 
over  some  time  before — by  Miles  de  Cogan,  and  by  Dermot,  and 
with  the  combined  army  of  about  5500  men  they  attacked  and  cap- 
tured the  city  of  Waterford,  slaughtering  great  numbers  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  Danish  chief  Reginald,  and  O'Faelan,  Prince  of 
the  Decies,  were  taken  prisoners  and  locked  up  in  an  old  Danish 
castle,  then  and  still  called  Reginald's  tower ;  but  as  they  were  about 
to  be  executed  Dermot  interposed  and  saved  them.  After  the  fight, 
and  while  the  streets  still  ran  red  with  the  blood  of  the  citizens, 
Strongbow  and  Eva  were  married  in  fulfillment  of  Dermot's  prom- 
ise. Scarcely  had  the  ceremony  ended  when  news  came  that  Has- 
culf of  Dublin  had  revolted;  whereupon  Strongbow  and  Dermot 
set  out  for  Dublin  by  a  difficult  way,  and  captured  the  city  after  a 
massacre.  Hasculf  escaped,  and  Dermot  and  Strongbow  remained 
in  possession  of  the  city. 

The  fame  of  the  great  conquests  made  by  Strongbow  got 
noised  abroad,  so  that  it  came  to  the  ears  of  King  Henry.  Fearing 
that  Strongbow  might  make  himself  king,  he  issued  an  edict  for- 
bidding further  intercourse  with  Ireland,  and  at  the  same  time  he 
began  to  prepare  for  his  own  expedition.  This  reduced  Strongbow 
and  his  army  to  great  distress  in  Dublin,  for  tliey  were  unable  to 
procure  either  men  or  provisions,  as  all  supplies  from  over  sea  were 
stopped.  And  a  worse  danger  now  threatened  them.  The  patriotic 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Laurence  O'Toole,  went  through  the  country 
and  persuaded  the  kings  and  chiefs  to  unite  in  an  attempt  to  crush 
the  invaders;  and  a  great  army  was  soon  encamped  in  separate 
detachments  round  about  the  city,  under  King  Roderick's  command. 
After  two  months'  siege,  the  garrison,  with  hunger  staring  them  in 
the  face  and  no  hope  of  relief,  came  to  the  resolution  to  attempt  to 


ANGLO-NORMANS  51 

1171-1178 

cut  their  way  in  a  body  through  the  enemy,  and  so  escape.  About 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  desperate  Httle  band,  600  Anglo- 
Normans  with  some  Irish  under  Donall  Kavanagh,  suddenly  sallied 
out  and  took  the  Irish  completely  by  surprise ;  and  the  king  himself, 
who  happened  to  be  in  his  bath  at  the  time,  escaped  with  much  diffi- 
culty half  naked  from  the  field.  The  panic  spread  rapidly,  so  that 
the  various  scattered  contingents  broke  up  and  fled.  And  the  garri- 
son returned  triumphant  to  the  city,  laden  with  booty,  and  with 
provisions  enough  for  a  whole  year. 

Meantime  King  Henry  had  been  busily  preparing,  and  on 
October  18,  1171,  he  landed  at  Crook  a  little  below  Waterford, 
with  many  of  his  nobles,  and  an  army  of  4400  knights  and  men  at 
arms.  Counting  common  soldiers  and  attendants,  he  probably  had 
10,000  fighting  men.  To  resist  such  a  force  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  most  of  the  Irish  princes  and  chiefs  made  their  submission 
to  him.  He  now  rewarded  his  followers  by  grants  of  large  tracts 
of  country,  giving  away  the  lands  belonging  to  the  natives  without 
the  least  scruple.  Leinster  was  granted  to  Strongbow,  with  the 
exception  of  Dublin  and  some  other  maritime  towns;  the  province 
of  Meath  to  Hugh  de  Lacy,  and  Ulster  to  John  de  Courcy.  In  all 
the  chief  towns  he  left  governors.  He  granted  Dublin  to  a  colony 
of  Bristol  people,  with  De  Lacy  as  governor,  who  is  generally 
regarded  as  the  first  viceroy  of  Ireland.  Having  completed  these 
arrangements,  the  king  embarked  at  Wexford  in  April  and  returned 
to  England.  From  the  moment  of  his  departure  his  arrangements 
were  all  disregarded,  and  his  followers  did  just  as  they  pleased, 
plundering  and  harassing  the  unfortunate  natives  without  mercy 
and  without  restraint.  But  the  natives  were  now  beginning  to 
profit  by  the  skill  of  their  adversaries,  and  often  successfully 
defended  themselves.  As  the  disturbances  continued,  the  king 
appointed  Strongbow  viceroy  in  the  following  year,  1173,  hoping 
that  by  increasing  his  authority  he  might  be  able  to  reduce  the 
country  to  quietness. 


Chapter   X 

ANGLO-IRISH    LORDS.     1 173-1272 

MOST  of  tlie  adventurers  who  settled  in  Ireland  in  the  time 
of  Henry  II.  belonged  to  good  families  of  ancient  and 
honorable  descent.  But  nearly  all  of  them  were  men 
who  had  run  through  their  estates  by  extravagance ;  and  being  brave 
and  daring  as  well  as  poor,  they  were  ready  to  engage  in  any  enter- 
prise, however  dangerous,  that  held  out  hope  of  retrieving  their 
fortunes.  After  they  had  settled  down  in  Ireland  in  the  districts 
granted  them  by  the  king,  they  became  great  and  powerful,  and 
from  them  the  chief  Anglo-Irish  families  were  derived.  Among 
these  the  most  distinguished  were  the  Geraldines  (Fitzgeralds, 
Barrys,  Cogans,  Graces,  and  others);  the  Butlers;  and  the  De 
Burgos  (Burkes,  Mac  Williams,  Mac  Davids,  etc.).  Maurice  Fitz- 
gerald was  the  chief  founder  of  the  family  of  the  Geraldines,  of 
whom  there  were  two  main  branches :  one  in  Leinster,  whose  chiefs 
became,  first.  Barons  of  Offaly,  then  Earls  of  Kildare,  and  finally 
Dukes  of  Leinster;  the  other  in  Munster,  whose  heads  were  Earls 
of  Desmond.  The  Butlers  settled  in  Leinster,  and  their  chiefs 
became  Earls,  and  finally  Dukes,  of  Ormond.  The  family  of  De 
Burgo  was  founded  by  William  de  Burgo;  they  settled  chiefly  in 
Connaught. 

It  was  related  at  the  end  of  the  last  chapter  how  Strongbow 
had  been  appointed  viceroy  in  1173  by  King  Henry.  No  sooner 
had  he  entered  on  his  new  duties  than  troubles  began  to  thicken 
round  him.  He  found  most  of  the  Irish  princes  in  revolt,  notwith- 
standing their  forced  submission  to  the  king,  and  the  money  he  had 
brought  was  soon  spent,  so  that  he  had  no  pay  for  his  soldiers. 
This  naturally  made  the  men  discontented ;  and  another  circumstance 
tliat  greatly  increased  their  ill  humor  was  that  a  general  whom  they 
hated  had  been  placed  over  them,  instead  of  their  favorite  leader, 
Raymond  le  Gros.  Raymond  was  their  idol,  for  he  was  a  brave  and 
dashing  officer,  and  in  all  his  expeditions  had  given  them  full 
license  to  plunder. 

32 


ANGLO-IRISH    LORDS  63 

1173-1177 

Strongbow  was  forced  to  give  back  Raymond  to  them,  and  he 
led  the  men  off  on  a  free-booting  excursion.  Shortly  after  this 
Strongbow  suffered  a  severe  defeat  while  Raymond  was  away,  and 
had  to  wait  for  Raymond's  return  to  be  rescued.  Despite  secret 
evil  reports  of  his  enemies,  which  brought  about  his  summons  to 
England,  Raymond's  power  over  the  soldiers  was  so  great  that  he 
had  to  be  restored  to  the  command  upon  an  uprising  in  Limerick. 
While  Raymond  was  in  the 'South  attending  to  this,  news  came  to 
him  of  Strongbow's  death,  and  he  returned  to  Dublin.  As  soon  as 
the  king  heard  the  news,  being  still  jealous  of  the  brilliant  soldier 
Raymond,  he  appointed  William  de  Burgo  viceroy  in  this  same 
year,  with  John  de  Courcy,  Robert  Fitzstephen,  and  Miles  de  Cogan 
to  assist  him.  Raymond  met  them  near  Wexford,  and  having  given 
them  a  most  respectful  reception,  he  delivered  up  his  authority  to 
the  new  viceroy  without  a  murmur.  After  this  we  hear  little  more 
of  Raymond  le  Gros  in  public  life.  He  retired  to  his  estates  in 
Wexford,  where  he  resided  quietly  till  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  1 182. 

De  Burgo,  the  new  governor,  was  from  the  first  disliked  by 
the  colonists :  for  he  wished  for  peace  and  discouraged  outrage  on 
the  natives;  whereas  war  was  what  the  colonists  most  desired,  as 
it  brought  them  plunder  and  sure  increase  of  territory.  Among 
all  his  officers  not  one  w^as  so  discontented  as  Sir  John  de  Courcy. 
He  was  a  man  of  gigantic  size  and  strength,  brave  and  daring; 
and  he  now  resolved  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Ulster,  which  the 
king  had  granted  to  him  five  years  before.  Setting  out  with  great 
speed,  he  came  to  Downpatrick.  As  there  were  no  walls,  the 
townspeople  knew  nothing  of  the  expedition  till  they  were  startled 
at  dawn  by  the  martial  sound  of  bugles  and  the  clattering  of  cavalry 
in  the  streets.  The  adventurers  were  half  starved  as  they  entered 
the  town;  and  they  fell  upon  everything  they  could  lay  hands  on: 
they  ate  and  drank,  plundered,  killed,  and  destroyed,  till  half  the 
town  was  in  ruins. 

At  the  end  of  a  week  Mac  Dunlevy,  Prince  of  Ulidia,  came 
with  a  large  undisciplined  army  to  attack  him.  De  Courcy,  nothing 
daunted,  went  out  to  meet  them,  and  chose  a  favorable  position 
to  withstand  the  assault.  The  Irish  ruslied  on  with  tumultuous 
bravery,  but  they  were  not  able  to  break  the  disciplined  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  after  a  furious  fight  they  were  repulsed  with  great  loss. 

Still  the  Ulsternien   continued  to  oft'er  the  most  determined 


54  IRELAND 

1178-1186 

resistance.  The  valiant  De  Courcy  battled  bravely  through  all  his 
difficulties,  and  three  several  times  in  the  same  year,  1177,  he 
defeated  in  battle  the  people  of  the  surrounding  districts.  But  as 
time  went  on  he  met  with  many  reverses,  and  he  had  quite  enough 
to  do  to  hold  his  ground.  Other  adventurers  arrived  to  join  him 
from  time  to  time ;  and,  as  opportunities  offered,  he  built  many 
castles  in  vantage  points  all  over  the  province;  so  that  as  years  went 
by  he  strengthened  his  position  in  Ulster. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  in  the  northern  province, 
the  country  in  and  around  the  English  settlement  in  Leinster  still 
continued  to  be  very  much  disturbed,  and  the  king  determined  to 
send  over  his  son,  Prince  John,  hoping  that  his  presence  would 
restore  tranquillity.  The  prince,  then  nineteen  years  of  age,  landed 
at  Waterford  (1185)  with  a  splendid  retinue  and  a  large  body  of 
cavalry.  He  had  the  title  of  Lord  of  Ireland ;  and  his  secretary  and 
tutor  was  a  Welsh  priest  named  Gerald  Barry,  now  better  known 
as  Geraldus  Cambrensis,  or  Gerald  of  Wales,  who  afterward  wrote 
in  Latin  a  description  of  L-eland  and  a  history  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
invasion.  But  Prince  John  soon  raised  the  whole  country  in  revolt 
by  his  foolish  and  vicious  conduct,  and  he  even  turned  the  old 
colonists  against  him  by  contemptuous  treatment.  The  Irish  chiefs 
crowded  to  him  in  Waterford,  both  to  pay  him  respect  and  to 
acknowledge  him  as  their  lord ;  but  his  insolent  young  associates — • 
close-shaven  dandies — ridiculed  their  dress  and  manners,  and 
insulted  them  by  plucking  their  beards,  which  they  wore  long, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country. 

Incensed  by  this  treatment,  the  proud  Irish  nobles  withdrew 
to  their  homes,  brooding  mischief.  The  settlements  were  attacked 
at  all  points,  a  great  number  of  the  new  strongholds  were  taken,  and 
many  of  the  bravest  of  the  Anglo-Norman  chiefs  were  slain.  The 
colonists  were  driven  to  take  refuge  in  the  towns;  and  almost  the 
whole  of  Prince  John's  army  perished  in  the  numerous  conflicts. 

\\''hen  the  country  had  been  for  some  time  in  this  state  of  tur- 
moil, King  Henry  came  to  hear  how  matters  stood,  and  at  once 
recalled  the  prince,  after  a  stay  of  about  eight  months,  appointing 
De  Courcy  viceroy.  The  prince,  both  before  and  after  his  return, 
threw  the  whole  blame  of  the  disturbance  on  Hugh  de  Lacy.  This 
De  Lacy,  though  not  the  greatest  warrior,  was  the  wisest  and  best 
governor  of  all  the  barons  who  served  King  Henry  in  Ireland ;  he 
built  strong  castles  all  over  Meath,  and  greatly  increased  his  power 


ANGLO-IRISH     LORDS  55 

1186-1204 

and  influence  with  the  Irish  by  marrying  a  daughter  of  the  old  king 
Roderick  O'Conor,  so  that  he  was  accused  by  the  prince  of  conspir- 
ing to  make  himself  king  of  Ireland,  But  he  never  lived  to  clear 
himself,  for  in  1 186  he  was  killed  by  a  young  Irishman  to  avenge  his 
public  misdeeds. 

De  Courcy,  during  his  viceroyalty,  invaded  Connaught,  plun- 
dering, burning,  and  slaying,  after  his  usual  fashion,  much  like  the 
Danes  of  old ;  but  before  he  had  advanced  far  into  the  province,  he 
was  confronted  by  the  two  kings  of  Connaught  and  Thomond — 
Conor  Mainmoy  and  Donall  O'Brien — with  their  united  armies. 
Not  venturing  to  give  battle  to  this  formidable  force,  he  retreated 
northward,  his  only  anxiety  now  being  to  save  himself  and  his  army 
from  destruction.  On  his  retreat  he  was  threatened  by  the  Prince 
of  Tirconnel  and  other  opponents,  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty 
he  escaped  with  the  remnant  of  his  army  into  Leinster. 

Later,  in  1200,  he  was  tempted  to  try  his  fortune  a  second  time 
in  Connaught,  during  a  contest  for  the  throne  among  the  O'Conor 
princes.  He  and  Hugh  de  Lacy  the  younger  (son  of  the  great  de 
Lacy)  were  both  induced  by  one  of  the  claimants  to  come  to  his 
assistance  in  the  struggle  for  the  throne  of  Connaught.  The  result 
was  no  better  than  before.  The  allies  were  ambuscaded,  and  in 
the  retreat  many  were  killed  or  drowned. 

The  career  of  this  extraordinary  man  ended  in  ruin  and  dis- 
grace. Hugh  de  Lacy  took  every  means  to  poison  King  John's 
mind  against  him.  He  was  proclaimed  a  rebel  and  a  traitor,  and 
De  Lacy,  now  lord  justice,  was  commissioned  to  arrest  him.  After 
several  unsuccessful  attempts,  De  Courcy  was  at  length,  in  1204, 
betrayed  by  some  of  his  own  servants,  who  led  De  Lacy's  men  to 
his  retreat  at  Downpatrick,  where  he  was  taken.  Some  records 
relate  that  his  enemies  came  down  on  him  on  Good  Friday,  when 
he  was  barefooted  and  unarmed,  doing  penance  in  the  cathedral  of 
Downpatrick,  and  that  he  snatched  up  the  nearest  weapon — a  great 
wooden  cross  standing  on  a  grave — with  which  he  dashed  out  the 
brains  of  thirteen  of  his  assailants  before  he  was  overpowered. 
After  his  arrest  history  loses  sight  of  him;  and  we  know  nothing 
certain  of  his  subsequent  fortunes  or  how  he  ended  his  life.  Some 
Anglo-Irish  historians  indeed  tell  several  very  interesting  stories 
about  him.  but  they  are  all  fabulous. 

By  whatever  title  the  governor  of  Ireland  was  known,  he  was 
supposed  to  stand  in  place  of  the  king,  and  he  usually  resided  in 


56  IRELAND 

1204-1210 

Dublin,  but  he  seldom  or  never  had  an  army  large  enough  to  enable 
him  to  enforce  his  authority.  The  kings  of  England  took  good 
care  not  to  allow  their  governors  a  sufficient  army,  fearing  that  some 
of  them  might  become  strong  enough  to  make  himself  an  inde- 
pendent king  of  Ireland.  This  absence  of  a  strong  central  govern- 
ment, owing  to  the  jealousy  of  the  kings,  was  the  root  of  most  of 
the  evils  that  afflicted  Ireland  now  and  for  ages  afterward.  The 
great  barons,  who  were  settled  all  over  the  country,  were  well  aware 
of  their  governor's  weakness,  and  cared  very  little  for  his  authority ; 
and  they  generally  cared  just  as  little  for  the  authority  of  the  king, 
who  was  at  too  great  a  distance  to  reach  them,  or  even  to  obtain 
much  information  of  their  proceedings.  They  ruled  like  independ- 
ent princes,  taxed  their  people,  made  war  or  peace,  and  raised 
armies  and  fought,  just  as  they  pleased.  Bad  as  was  the  state  of 
things  before  the  Invasion,  it  was  much  worse  now,  for  there  were 
more  people  to  quarrel,  with  less  means  of  checking  them.  The 
native  chiefs  continued  to  wrangle  and  fight  among  themselves,  the 
same  as  before;  the  barons  fought  with  each  other  even  more  bit- 
terly; and  all  this  time  the  English  were  everywhere  making  inroads 
on  the  Irish  to  win  new  lands,  while  the  Irish  defended  their  homes 
as  best  they  could.  The  King  of  England  came  over  at  odd  times, 
always  with  an  army,  and  while  he  remained  in  the  country  there 
was  quietness,  but  the  moment  he  reembarked,  or  ceased  to  keep 
a  direct  watch  on  the  barons,  all  was  again  turmoil  and  bloodshed. 
What  is  here  related  will  give  the  reader  a  good  idea  of  the  hard 
ordeal  of  suffering  the  unhappy  country  had  to  pass  through  during 
this  thirteenth  and  many  subsequent  centuries. 

In  the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  King  John  the  country  was 
all  in  confusion,  of  which  he  was  kept  well  informed  by  his  agents. 
Seeing  no  prospect  of  improvement  so  long  as  things  were  per- 
mitted to  go  in  their  usual  course,  he  resolved  to  pay  a  visit  to 
Ireland  and  to  reduce  the  turbulent  barons  and  chiefs  to  submission. 
In  I2IO  he  landed  at  Cork,  near  Waterford,  with  a  formidable 
army,  and  from  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  the  fighting  ceased,  the 
most  troublesome  of  the  barons  fled,  and  the  country  became  tran- 
quil. As  he  had  no  fighting  to  do,  he  employed  himself  more  use- 
fully in  making  arrangements  for  the  better  government  of  tlie 
country.  Those  ])arts  of  Ireland  which  were  under  English  juris- 
diction he  parceled  out  into  twelve  counties  or  shires,  and  this  was 
the  beginning  of  the  subdivision  into  counties,  such  as  we  now  have 


ANGLO-IRISH    LORDS  51 

1204-1249 

them.  The  twelve  formed  by  King  John  are  Dublin,  Kildare, 
Meath,  Uriel  (or  Louth),  Carlow,  Kilkenny,  Wexford,  Water  ford, 
Cork,  Kerry,  Limerick,  and  Tipperary. 

He  directed  that  in  these  twelve  counties  English  law  should  be 
administered,  and  for  this  purpose  he  had  courts  of  justice  erected, 
and  appointed  magistrates  and  other  officers  to  hold  sessions  and 
decide  cases.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  this  was  for 
the  settlers  only,  not  for  the  natives,  who  were  then  and  for  long 
afterward  outside  the  pale  of  the  law.  So  far  as  they  went,  King 
John's  arrangements  were  sensible  and  useful.  He  returned  to 
England  in  August,  after  a  stay  of  about  two  months,  and  during 
the  remainder  of  his  reign  Ireland  was  moderately  quiet. 

The  century  that  elapsed  from  the  death  of  John  and  the 
accession  of  Henry  HL  (1216)  to  the  invasion  of  Edward  Bruce 
was  a  period  of  strife  and  bloodshed,  a  period  of  woe  and  misery 
for  the  common  people :  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  island  was  aban- 
doned to  anarchy.  What  is  sometimes  called  the  "  War  of  Meath," 
for  it  was  in  fact  a  civil  w^ar  on  a  small  scale — a  destructive  feud 
between  William  Marshal,  the  owner  of  vast  estates  in  Leinster, 
and  Hugh  de  Lacy  the  younger — began  in  1224,  and  continued 
unchecked  till  the  whole  of  Meath  was  wasted.  Scarcely  was  this 
strife  ended  when  another — the  "  War  of  Kildare  " — broke  out. 
After  William  Marshal's  death,  his  brother  Richard,  a  handsome, 
valiant,  noble-minded  knight,  inherited  his  title  and  estates.  He 
was  in  England  at  the  time  of  his  brother's  death ;  and  having  in- 
curred the  anger  of  King  Henry  HL,  fled  to  Ireland.  There  several 
of  the  leading  men  conspired  to  destroy  him,  hoping  to  share  his 
vast  estates.  He  was  w'ounded,  captured,  and  died  in  his  captors' 
hands,  but  the  plot  was  revealed,  and  the  assassins  gained  nothing. 

In  these  Leinster  counties  there  was  at  this  time  a  mixed  popu- 
lation of  English  settlers  and  native  Irish,  most  of  them  quiet 
people,  who  wished  for  nothing  more  than  to  be  permitted  to  till 
their  farms,  herd  their  cattle,  and  live  with  their  families  in  peace. 
But  these  everlasting  feuds  of  the  barons  stopped  all  industry,  and 
brought  death  and  desolation  everywhere. 

While  this  warfare  was  going  on  in  Leinster,  Connaught  was 
in  a  state  of  strife  which  lasted  for  many  years;  and  the  struggles 
among  the  several  claimants  of  the  O'Conor  family  for  the  throne 
of  Connaught  went  on  unceasingly:  battles,  skirmishes,  and  raids 
without  number.     The  English,  under  William  ^Marshal,  De  Burgo, 


58  IRELAND 

1249-1315 

or  others,  were  mixed  up  in  most  of  these  contests,  now  siding  with 
one  of  the  parties,  now  with  another;  but  always  keeping  an  eye 
to  their  own  interests.  And  thus  the  havoc  and  ruin  went  on 
unchecked. 

At  length  one  of  the  O'Conors — Felim,  nephew  of  the  old 
Ard-ri  Roderick — established  himself  in  1249,  by  sheer  force  of 
energy  and  bravery,  on  the  throne  of  Connaught,  in  spite  of  all 
enemies,  both  English  and  Irish,  and  reigned  without  interruption 
till  his  death  in  1265. 

The  condition  of  Leinster  and  Connaught  has  been  sketched, 
and  the  state  of  things  in  Ulster  and  Munster  was  almost  as  bad. 

In  1257  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  who  had  been  twice  lord  justice, 
marched  with  his  army  northward,  resolved  to  bring  Ulster  com- 
pletely under  English  rule.  But  he  was  intercepted  by  Godfrey 
O'Donnell,  chief  of  Tirconnell,  and  a  furious  battle  was  fought. 
The  two  leaders,  Fitzgerald  and  O'Donnell,  met  in  single  combat 
and  wounded  each  other  severely;  the  English  were  routed;  and 
Fitzgerald  retired  to  the  Franciscan  monastery  of  Youghal,  in 
which  he  died  the  same  year,  probably  of  his  wounds. 

As  for  O'Donnell,  he  lay  for  a  whole  year  sinking  daily  under 
his  wounds;  and  all  this  time  the  Tirconnellians  had  no  chief  to 
lead  them.  While  in  this  condition,  the  Prince  of  Tyrone  attacked, 
but  was  routed,  the  heroic  O'Donnell  being  carried  on  a  bier  in  front 
of  his  troops.    Immediately  after,  the  heroic  chief  died. 

Some  of  the  Irish  chiefs  now  attempted  to  unite  against  the 
common  enemy,  choosing  Brien  O'Neill  for  leader  (1260),  but  they 
were  defeated  by  the  English  in  a  bloody  battle  at  Downpatrick, 
and  O'Neill  and  a  large  number  of  chiefs  were  slain. 

In  the  south,  the  Mac  Carthys  of  Desmond,  seeing  their  ancient 
principality  continually  encroached  upon  by  the  Geraldines,  became 
exasperated,  and  attacked  and  defeated  them  in  1261  at  Callan, 
near  Kenmare,  after  which  they  demolished  numbers  of  the  English 
castles.  But  they  soon  quarreled  among  themselves,  and  the  Ger- 
aldines gradually  recovered  all  they  had  lost. 

While  this  universal  strife  was  raging  in  Ireland,  Henry  III. 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Edward  I.  in  1272.  During  Edward's 
reign,  the  Irish  chiefs  petitioned  to  be  placed  under  English  law, 
but  though  this  great  king  was  himself  willing  to  grant  the  petition, 
the  Anglo-Irish  lords  persuaded  him  to  reject  it. 


Chapter    XI 

BRUCE'S    INVASION    AND    INTERNAL    STRIFE 
1315-1377 

MATTERS  were,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  very  disturbed  state 
during  the  thirteenth  century,  but  we  might  almost  say 
that  it  was  peace  itself  compared  with  the  three  and  a 
half  years  of  Bruce's  expedition  in  Ireland. 

The  Irish  people,  especially  those  of  the  north,  viewed  with 
great  interest  and  sympathy  the  struggles  of  their  kindred  in  Scot- 
land for  independence;  and  Robert  Bruce's  glorious  victory  over 
Edward  11.  at  Bannockburn  (in  13 14)  filled  them  with  joy  and 
hope.  Soon  after  the  battle  the  native  chiefs  of  Ulster,  with  the 
Anglo-Irish  De  Lacys  and  Bissetts,  dispatched  messengers  praying 
Bruce  to  send  his  brother  Edward  to  be  king  over  them.  He 
eagerly  accepted  the  proposal ;  and  on  May  25,  13 15,  Edward  Bruce, 
accompanied  by  many  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  landed  at  Larne 
with  an  army  of  6000  of  the  best  soldiers  of  Scotland.  He 
was  immediately  joined  by  Donall  O'Neill,  and  by  numbers  of  the 
northern  Irish ;  and  the  combined  forces  overran  a  great  part  of 
Ulster,  destroying  everything  belonging  to  the  English  that  came 
in  their  way,  and  defeating  their  armies  in  several  battles.  Moving 
southward,  they  stormed  and  burned  Dundalk  and  Ardee;  and  at 
this  latter  place  they  set  fire  to  the  church  of  the  Carmelite  friary, 
in  which  a  number  of  people  had  taken  refuge,  and  burned  them  all 
to  death.  From  first  to  last  the  campaign  was  carried  on  with 
great  cruelty,  and  with  reckless  waste  of  life  and  property.  All 
food  except  what  was  needed  for  the  use  of  the  army  was  destroyed, 
though  there  was  a  famine,  and  the  people  were  starving  al)  over 
the  country. 

The  two  leading  Anglo-Irish  noblemen  at  this  time  were  Rich- 
ard De  Burgo,  the  Red  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  Sir  Edmund  Butler,  the 
lord  justice.  The  Red  Earl,  who  was  lord  of  the  greatest  part  of 
the  two  provinces  of  Ulster  and  Connaught,  and  was  by  far  the 
most  powerful  nobleman  in  Ireland — much  more  high  and  mighty 

59 


60  IRELAND 

1315-1317 

than  even  the  lord  justice — raised  a  large  army,  chiefly  in  Con- 
nanght,  and  set  out  in  quest  of  the  invaders.  His  march  north 
through  the  Irish  districts  was  perhaps  more  savagely  destructive 
than  that  of  Bruce,  if  indeed  that  were  possible;  and  his  reason  for 
thus  destroying  the  property  of  the  Irish  people  as  he  marched  along, 
was  that  he  believed  they  were  all  in  favor  of  Bruce,  which  was  not 
the  case. 

The  King  of  Connaught  had  joined  the  English  army,  but  at 
a  critical  moment  had  to  withdraw  to  suppress  a  rebellion  of  his 
own,  and  Bruce  wholly  defeated  the  English.  Soon  after  the  battle, 
Bruce  had  himself  proclaimed  King  of  Ireland  and  formally 
crowned.     Within  a  few  months  he  won  two  more  battles. 

The  preceding  harvest  had  been  a  bad  one,  and  scarcity  and 
want  prevailed  all  over  the  country.  Nevertheless  the  Scottish 
army,  wherever  they  went,  continued  to  ravage  and  destroy  all  they 
could  not  consume  or  bring  away,  multiplying  tenfold  the  miseries 
of  the  people,  both  English  and  Irish. 

The  King  of  Connaught,  having  crushed  in  blood  the  revolt  in 
Connaught,'  now  changed  sides  and  declared  for  Bruce.  Intending 
to  expel  all  the  English  from  the  province,  he  marched  to  Athenry 
with  a  large  army;  but  was  there  defeated  and  slain,  in  1316,  in  a 
great  battle.  This  was  by  far  the  most  decisive  and  fatal  defeat 
ever  inflicted  on  the  Irish  since  the  invaders  first  set  foot  on  Irish 
soil.  King  Robert  had  come  over  to  aid  his  brother;  and  early  in 
the  spring  of  131 7  they  both  set  out  for  Dublin  with  an  army  of 
20,000,  destroying  everything  in  their  march.  The  citizens  of 
Dublin  took  most  determined  measures  for  defense,  burning  all 
outside  the  walls,  both  houses  and  churches,  to  deprive  the  Scots 
of  shelter;  so  that  the  Bruces  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  enter  on  a 
siege ;  and  they  resumed  their  destructive  march  till  they  reached 
Limerick.  But  as  they  found  this  city  so  well  prepared  for  defense, 
and  as  there  was  still  great  scarcity  of  provisions,  they  returned 
northward  after  a  short  stay.  They  had  to  traverse  the  very  dis- 
tricts they  had  wasted  a  short  time  before;  and  in  this  most  miser- 
able march,  vast  numbers  of  thein  ])erished  of  cold,  hunger,  and 
disease — scourged  by  the  famine  they  had  themselves  created. 

After  this.  King  Robert,  believing  it  hopeless  to  attempt  the 
comjjlete  conquest  of  the  country,  returned  to  Scotland ;  but  Edward 
remained,  determined  to  fight  it  out  to  the  end.  The  two  armies 
rested  inactive,  and  there  was  a  lull  for  a  time,  probably  on  account 


INVASION     AND     STRIFE  61 

1317-1318 

of  the  terrible  dearth  of  food.  But  now  came  an  abundant  harvest, 
and  both  sides  prepared  for  action.  Bruce  turned  south  for  another 
conquering  progress,  but  was  met  at  Faughart  by  an  army  much 
more  numerous  than  his  own.  He  was  strongly  advised  not  to 
fight  till  more  men,  who  were  on  their  way  from  Scotland,  should 
arrive ;  but  he  was  rash  and  headstrong,  and  despised  his  opponents, 
declaring  he  would  fight  if  they  were  four  times  more  numerous. 
The  battle  fought  here  on  October  14,  13 18,  terminated  the  war. 
The  issue  was  decided  chiefly  by  Sir  John  Maupas,  an  Anglo-Irish 
knight,  who  made  a  dash  at  Bruce  and  slew  him  in  the  midst  of 
the  Scots.  Maupas  was  instantly  cut  down,  and  after  the  battle 
his  body  was  found  pierced  all  over,  lying  on  that  of  Bruce.  The 
invading  army  was  defeated  with  great  slaughter  and  the  main 
body  of  the  survivors,  including  the  De  Lacys,  escaped  to  Scotland. 
The  body  of  Bruce  was  cut  in  pieces  to  be  hung  up  in  the  chief 
towns  in  the  colony,  and  the  head  was  brought  in  a  box,  salted,  to 
King  Edward  II. 

And  so  ended  the  celebrated  expedition  of  Edward  Bruce. 
Though  it  was  a  failure,  it  shook  the  Anglo-Irish  government  to 
its  foundation  and  weakened  it  for  centuries.  Ulster  was  almost 
cleared  of  colonists ;  the  native  chiefs  and  clans  resumed  possession, 
and  there  were  similar  movements  in  other  parts  of  Ireland,  though 
not  to  the  same  extent.  There  had  been  such  general,  needless, 
and  almost  insane  destruction  of  property,  that  vast  numbers  of  the 
people  of  all  classes,  settlers  and  natives,  chiefs  and  peasants,  lost 
everything  and  sank  into  hopeless  poverty.  The  whole  country  was 
thrown  into  a  state  of  utter  disorder,  from  which  it  did  not  recover 
till  many  generations  had  passed  away.  And  to  add  to  the  niiser}^, 
there  were  visitations  of  famine  and  pestilence — plagues  of  various 
strange  kinds — which  continued  at  intervals  during  the  whole  of 
the  century.  The  native  Irish  historians  of  the  time  regarded  the 
expedition  of  Bruce  with  great  disfavor,  for  they  looked  upon  it  as 
answerable  for  a  large  part  of  the  evils  and  miseries  that  afflicted 
their  unfortunate  country. 

The  Anglo-Irish  government  now  grew  weaker  year  by  year, 
and  the  English,  far  from  invading  new  territories,  had  more  than 
they  could  do  to  defend  those  they  had  already  acquired.  For  the 
Irish,  taking  advantage  of  their  dissensions  and  helplessness,  at- 
tacked them  everywhere  and  recovered  a  great  part  of  their  lands. 

Moreover,  about  this  time  the  English  all  over  the  country 


62  IRELAND 

1318-1330 

were  fast  becoming  absorbed  into  the  native  population.  The  Irish, 
like  the  Celtic  tribes  everywhere,  have  always  had  a  sort  of  fascinat- 
ing power  over  people  of  other  races  settling  among  them,  a  power 
to  make  them  in  all  respects  like  themselves:  and  in  fact  all  the 
settlers  before  the  Ulster  Plantation,  and  most  of  those  after  it, 
have  fallen  under  this  spell.  But  about  the  time  we  are  now  dealing 
with,  there  w^ere  two  powerful  artificial  influences  to  help  this  nat- 
ural process.  First :  the  colonists,  seeing  the  Irish  prevailing  every- 
wdiere,  joined  them  for  mere  protection,  intermarrying  w'ith  them 
and  adopting  their  language,  dress,  and  customs.  Second :  the  gov- 
ernment had  all  along  made  a  most  mischievous  distinction  between 
New  English  and  Old  English — English  by  birth  and  English  by 
blood.  They  favored  Englishmen  who  came  over  to  better  their 
fortunes — men  who  never  did  anything  for  Ireland — and  gave  them 
most  of  the  situations  of  trust,  putting  them  over  the  heads  of  the 
Old  English,  those  who  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  struggle.  This 
so  incensed  the  old  colonists  that  a  large  proportion  of  them — Ger- 
aldines,  Butlers,  De  Burgos,  and  others — turned  against  the  gov- 
ernment and  joined  the  Irish.  These  "  degenerate  English,"  as 
they  were  called,  were  regarded  by  the  loyal  English  with  as  much 
aversion  as  the  Irish,  and  returned  hate  for  hate  quite  as  cordially ; 
and  later  on,  as  we  shall  see,  some  of  the  most  dangerous  leaders 
of  rebellion  were  Anglo-Irish  noblemen.  So  completely  did  they 
become  fused  with  the  native  population,  that  an  English  writer 
complained  that  they  had  become  "  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  them- 
selves." 

The  whole  country  was  now  feeling  the  consequences  of  the 
Bruce  invasion,  and  there  were  murderous  broils  everywhere  among 
the  English  themselves,  with  little  or  no  check.  There  were  several 
murders  and  massacres,  one  of  which,  that  of  De  Burgo,  the  Brown 
Earl  of  Ulster,  lost  a  great  part  of  Ireland  to  the  government,  and 
helped  to  hasten  the  incorporation  of  the  English  with  the  Irish. 
He  left  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  according  to  English  law  was 
heir  to  her  father's  vast  possessions  in  Ulster  and  Connaught.  about 
one-fourth  of  the  whole  Anglo-Irish  territory.  The  two  most  pow- 
erful of  the  Connaught  De  Burgos,  knowing  that  whoever  this  girl 
might  marry,  when  she  grew  up,  would  come  over  their  heads. 
seized  the  estates,  declared  themselves  independent  of  England,  and 
adopted  the  Irish  dress,  language,  and  law.  They  took  also  Irish 
names.     And  their  example  was  followed  by  many  other  Anglo- 


INVASION     AND     STRIFE  63 

1330-1334 

Irish  families,  especially  in  the  west  and  south.  Almost  the  only- 
part  of  the  settlement  that  remained  English,  and  loyal  to  England, 
was  the  district  round  Dublin,  which  was  afterward  called  the  Pale. 
The  poor  settlers  of  this  district  were  all  this  time  in  a  most  misera- 
ble condition.  They  were  scourged  by  the  Black  Death  and  other 
terrible  plagues,  and  oppressed  and  robbed  by  their  own  rulers. 
And  as  the  government  was  not  able  to  afford  them  protection, 
they  had  to  pay  "  black  rents  "  to  some  of  the  Irish  chiefs  round  the 
borders,  to  protect  them  from  the  fierce  attacks  of  the  natives. 
These  black  rents,  too,  were  often  paid  by  the  Irish  Government 
as  well  as  by  private  individuals. 

The  uprising  of  the  Irish  became  so  general  and  alarming  that, 
in  1330,  the  viceroy  called  in  the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  nobleman 
in  the  country,  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  who  was  at  the  same  time  created 
the  first  Earl  of  Desmond.  This  only  made  matters  worse;  for 
Fitzgerald,  after  some  successful  expeditions,  quartered  his  army, 
to  the  number  of  10,000,  on  the  colonists,  that  they  might  pay  them- 
selves by  exacting  coyne  and  livery:  the  first  time  the  English 
adopted  this  odious  impost,  which  afterward  became  so  frequent 
among  them,  and  of  which  it  was  said,  "  That  if  it  had  been  practiced 
in  Hell  as  it  hath  been  in  Ireland,  it  had  long  since  destroyed  the 
kingdom  of  Beelzebub." 

The  unfortunate  colonists,  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  exactions 
and  hardships,  depressed  by  poverty  and  scourged  by  pestilence, 
quitted  the  doomed  country  in  crowds — everyone  fled  who  had  the 
means — and  the  settlement  seemed  threatened  with  speedy  extinc- 
tion. The  native  Irish  were  not  less  wretched  than  the  English ; 
for  the  Black  Death  visited  them,  too,  and  the  continual  wars 
brought  quite  as  much  misery  on  them  as  on  the  people  of  the  Pale. 

While  the  Pale  was  daily  becoming  more  and  more  enfeebled, 
the  great  barons,  in  their  strong  castles  all  over  the  country,  caring 
nothing  for  the  English  interest,  but  very  much  for  their  own  author- 
ity and  grandeur,  became  more  dangerously  powerful  year  by  year ; 
so  that  King  Edward  III.  feared  them,  and  came  to  the  determina- 
tion to  break  down  their  power.  He  made  three  attempts  to  do  so, 
by  sending  over  three  governors,  at  different  times  from  1331  to 
T334,  with  instructions  to  carry  out  his  design;  but  all  three  failed, 
and  in  the  end  the  nobles  remained  in  much  the  same  position  as 
before,  till  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

Wherever  a  colony  of  English  were  settled,  the  two  peoples — 


64  IRELAND 

1334-1361 

English  and  Irish — after  some  time,  when  they  came  to  know  each 
other,  generally  lived  on  good  terms  and  often  intermarried — 
Englishmen  generally  taking  Irish  wives — and  the  English  learned 
to  speak  the  Irish  language,  instead  of  the  Irish  learning  English. 
But  there  were  some  evil  influences  from  the  outside  to  prevent  this 
kindly  intercourse — tending  to  make  the  people  hostile  rather  than 
friendly  toward  each  other.     One  of  these  was  the  state  of  the  law. 

After  the  English  settlement  in  1172  there  were  two  distinct 
codes  of  law  in  force  in  Ireland — the  English  and  the  Brehon.  The 
English  law  was  for  the  colonists;  it  did  not  apply  to  the  Irish:  and 
an  Irishman  that  was  in  any  way  injured  by  an  Englishman  had  no 
redress.  He  could  not  seek  the  protection  of  English  law,  which 
gave  the  judges  and  magistrates  no  power  to  try  the  case;  and  if 
he  had  recourse  to  the  Brehon  law,  the  Englishman  need  not  submit 
to  it.  But  on  the  other  hand,  an  Irishman  who  injured  an  English- 
man in  any  manner  was  at  once  tried  by  English  law  and  punished, 
if  the  matter  was  proved  against  him.  So  that  all  those  of  the 
native  race  who  lived  among  or  near  the  colonists  were  in  a  position 
of  great  hardship,  humiliation,  and  danger.  This  state  of  things 
was  not  indeed  brought  about  with  any  intention  to  give  the  English 
license  to  injure  their  Irish  neighbors.  The  colonists  were  simply 
placed  under  English  law  without  any  thought  of  the  Irish  one  way 
or  the  other.  But  the  fact  that  it  was  unintentional  in  no  way 
lessened  the  danger ;  and  many  instances  are  on  record  of  English- 
men inflicting  great  injury  on  Irishmen — sometimes  even  killing 
them — ^knowing  well  that  there  was  no  danger  of  punishm.ent. 
Accordingly,  about  this  time,  the  Irish  several  times  petitioned  to 
be  placed  under  English  law ;  but  though  both  Edward  I.  and 
Edward  III.  were  willing  to  grant  this  petition,  the  selfish  Anglo- 
Irish  barons  persuaded  them  that  it  would  do  great  injury  to  the 
country,  and  so  prevented  it;  for  it  was  their  interest  that  the  Irish 
should  be  regarded  as  enemies,  and  that  the  country  should  be  in  a 
perpetual  state  of  disturbance. 

But  there  were  also  direct  attempts  made  to  keep  the  English 
and  Irish  people  asunder,  especially  by  a  law  known  as  the  "  Statute 
of  Kilkenny,"  which  was  brought  about  in  this  way.  King  Edward 
III.,  when  lie  was  made  aware  of  the  critical  state  of  tlie  colony, 
resolved  to  send  over  his  third  son  Lionel,  afterward  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence, as  lord  lieutenant.  This  young  prince  had  married  Elizabeth, 
the  only  child  of  the  Brown  Earl  of  Ulster,  who  had  been  murdered. 


INVASION     AND     STRIFE  65 

1361-1367 

and  in  her  right  had  become  Earl  of  Ulster  and  Lord  of  Connaught. 
But  he  was  a  most  unsuitable  person  to  have  the  government  of  the 
country  in  his  hands,  for  he  had  an  insane  hatred  of  the  Irish, 
whether  of  native  or  English  blood.  With  a  force  of  1 500  trained 
soldiers  he  came  to  Ireland  in  1361,  but  in  his  expeditions  against 
the  natives  he  was  very  unsuccessful :  and  twice  afterward  he  came 
as  lord  lieutenant,  in  1364  and  1367.  After  this  experience  he 
became  convinced  that  it  was  impossible  ever  to  subdue  the  Irish  and 
bring  them  under  English  rule;  and  he  seemed  to  think  that  all  the 
evils  of  the  country  arose  from  the  intercourse  of  the  colonists  with 
them.  This  state  of  things  he  attempted  to  remedy  by  an  act  which 
he  caused  to  be  passed  by  a  parliament  held  in  Kilkenny,  and 
which  he  imagined  would  be  the  means  of  saving  the  colony  from 
destruction. 

The  Statute  of  Kilkenny  was  intended  to  apply  only  to  the 
English,  and  was  framed  entirely  in  their  interests.  Its  chief  aim 
was  to  withdraw  them  from  all  contact  with  the  "  Irish  enemies," 
as  the  natives  are  designated  all  through  the  act;  to  separate  the 
two  races  for  evermore. 

According  to  this  law,  intermarriage,  fosterage,  gossipred, 
traffic,  and  close  relations  of  any  kind  with  the  Irish  were  forbidden 
as  high  treason :  the  punishment,  death. 

If  any  man  took  a  name  after  the  Irish  fashion,  used  the  Irish 
language  or  dress,  rode  a  horse  without  a  saddle,  or  adopted  any 
other  Irish  custom,  all  his  lands  and  houses  were  forfeited,  and  he 
himself  was  put  into  jail  till  he  could  find  security  that  he  would 
comply  with  the  law.  The  Irish  living  among  the  English  were 
forbidden  to  use  the  Irish  language  under  the  same  penalty;  that 
is,  they  were  commanded  to  speak  English,  a  language  they  did  not 
know.  To  use  the  Brehon  law — as  many  of  the  English,  both  high 
and  low,  were  now  doing — or  to  exact  coyne  and  livery  was  treason. 

No  Englishman  was  to  make  war  on  the  Irish  without  the 
special  permission  of  the  government,  who  would  carry  on  all  such 
wars,  "  so  that,"  as  the  act  expresses  it,  "  the  Irish  enemies  shall 
not  be  admitted  to  peace  until  they  be  finally  destroyed  or  shall 
make  restitution  fully  of  the  costs  and  charges  of  that  war." 

Xo  native  Irish  clergyman  was  to  be  appointed  to  any  position 
in  the  church  within  the  English  district,  and  no  Irishman  was  to  be 
received  into  any  English  religious  house  in  Ireland. 

It  was  forbidden  to  receive  or  entertain  Irish  bards,  pipers. 


66  IRELAND 

1367-1377 

Story-tellers,  or  mowers,  because,  as  the  act  said,  these  and  such 
like  often  come  as  spies  on  the  EngHsh. 

But  this  new  law,  designed  to  effect  so  much,  was  found  to  be 
impracticable,  and  became  after  a  little  while  a  dead  letter.  It 
would  require  a  great  army  to  enable  the  governor  to  carry  it  out, 
and  he  had  no  such  army.  Coyne  and  livery  continued  to  be 
exacted  from  the  colonists  by  the  three  great  earls,  Kildare,  Des- 
mond, and  Ormond ;  and  the  Irish  and  English  went  on  intermarry- 
ing, gossiping,  fostering,  dressing,  speaking  Irish,  riding  horse 
without  saddle,  and  quarreling  on  their  own  account,  just  the  same 
as  before. 

The  reign  of  Edward  III.  was  a  glorious  one  for  England 
abroad,  but  was  disastrous  to  the  English  dominion  in  Ireland. 
Great  battles  were  fought  and  won  for  the  French  possessions,  while 
Ireland,  which  was  more  important  than  all  the  French  possessions 
put  together,  was  neglected.  At  the  very  time  of  the  battle  of 
Cressy,  the  Irish  settlement  had  been  almost  wiped  out  of  existence : 
the  English  power  did  not  extend  beyond  the  Pale,  which  now  in- 
cluded only  four  counties  round  Dublin;  for  the  three  great  earls 
of  Kildare,  Desmond,  and  Ormond  acted  as  independent  princes, 
and  made  no  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  the  English  king. 
If  one-half  of  the  care  and  energy  expended  uselessly  in  France 
had  been  directed  to  Ireland,  the  country  could  have  been  easily 
pacified  and  compacted  into  one  great  empire  with  England. 


Chapter  XII 

DECLINE    OF    ENGLISH    RULE.     1377-1485 

THE  man  that  gave  most  trouble  to  the  English  during  the 
reigns  of  Richard  II.  and  Henry  IV.  was  Art  Mac  Mur- 
rogh  Kavanagh,  the  renowned  King  of  Leinster.  He 
was  elected  king  in  1375,  when  he  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age. 
Soon  afterward  he  married  the  daughter  of  Maurice  Fitzgerald, 
fourth  Earl  of  Kildare,  whereupon  the  English  authorities  seized 
the  lady's  vast  estates,  inasmuch  as  she  had  violated  the  Statute  of 
Kilkenny  by  marrying  a  mere  Irishman.  In  addition  to  this,  his 
black  rent — eighty  marks  a  year — was  for  some  reason  stopped,  a 
little  time  after  the  accession  of  Richard  II.  Exasperated  by  these 
proceedings,  he  devastated  and  burned  many  districts  in  Leinster, 
till  the  Dublin  council  were  at  last  forced  to  pay  him  his  black  rent. 
This  rent  continued  to  be  paid  to  his  descendants  by  the  Irish  Gov- 
ernment till  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

Meantime  Ireland  had  been  going  from  bad  to  worse;  and  at 
last  King  Richard  II.  resolved  to  come  hither  himself  with  an  over- 
whelming force,  hoping  thereby  to  overawe  the  whole  country  into 
submission  and  quietness.  He  made  great  preparations  for  this 
expedition ;  and  on  October  2,  1 394,  attended  by  many  of  the 
English  nobles,  he  landed  at  Waterford  with  an  army  of  34,000 
men,  the  largest  force  ever  yet  brought  to  the  shores  of  Ireland. 
At  first  Mac  Murrogh  resisted  without  any  signs  of  fear,  but  later 
about  seventy-five  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  including  Mac  Murrogh,  came 
forward  and  made  submission. 

King  Richard,  though  shallow  and  weak-minded,  had  sense 
enough  to  perceive  the  chief  causes  of  the  evils  that  afTflicted  Ireland. 
In  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  York,  the  English  regent,  he  describes  the 
Irish  people  as  of  three  classes :  Irish  savages  or  enemies,  who  were 
outside  the  law;  Irish  rebels,  i.e.,  colonists  who  had  once  obeyed 
the  law  but  were  now  in  rebellion ;  and  English  subjects :  and  he 
says  the  rebels  were  driven  to  revolt  by  injustice  and  ill-usage. 

But  this  magnificent  expedition,  which  cost  an  immense  sum  of 

6T 


68  IRELAND 

1397-1399 

money,  produced  no  useful  result  whatever.  It  did  not  increase 
the  king's  revenue  or  the  number  of  loyal  subjects,  and  it  did  not 
enlarge  the  English  territory  by  a  single  acre.  As  for  the  submis- 
sion and  reconciliation  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  it  was  all  pure  sham. 
They  did  not  look  upon  King  Richard  as  their  lawful  sovereign, 
and  as  the  promises  they  had  made  had  been  extorted  by  force,  they 
did  not  consider  themselves  bound  to  keep  them.  After  a  stay 
of  nine  months  the  king  was  obliged  to  return  to  England,  leaving 
as  his  deputy  his  cousin,  young  Roger  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March, 
who,  as  Richard  had  no  children,  was  heir  to  the  throne  of  England. 
Scarcely  had  he  left  sight  of  land  when  the  chiefs  one  and  all 
renounced  their  allegiance,  and  the  fighting  went  on  again ;  till  at 
last,  in  a  battle  fought  at  Kells  in  Kilkenny  in  1397,  against  the 
Leinster  clans,  among  them  a  large  contingent  of  Mac  Murrogh's 
kern,  the  English  suffered  a  great  overthrow,  and  Mortimer  was 
slain. 

When  news  of  this  calamity  reached  the  king,  he  was  greatly 
enraged,  and  foolishly  resolved  on  a  second  expedition  to  Ireland, 
in  order,  as  he  said,  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  cousin,  and  especially 
to  chastise  Mac  Murrogh.  Another  army  was  got  together  quite 
as  numerous  as  the  former  one.  In  the  middle  of  May,  1399,  the 
king  landed  with  his  army  at  Waterford,  and  after  a  short  stay 
there  he  marched  to  Kilkenny  on  his  way  to  Dublin,  But  instead 
of  continuing  his  march  on  the  open  level  country,  he  turned  to  the 
right  toward  the  Wicklow  highlands  to  attack  Mac  Murrogh.  This 
was  unfortunate  for  the  king,  for  the  Irish  w^ere  on  the  highlands 
and  the  way  was  almost  impassable.  The  Irish  attacked  continu- 
ally and  then  darted  off,  the  English  never  being  able  to  overtake 
them.  Finally  the  English  reached  the  coast  and  found  there  ships 
with  provisions.  The  timely  arrival  of  these  ships  saved  the  army 
from  destruction.  Next  day  they  resumed  the  march,  moving  now 
along  the  coast  toward  Dublin,  while  flying  parties  of  the  Irish  hung 
on  their  rear  and  harassed  their  retreat,  never  giving  them  an  hour's 
rest. 

But  now  Mac  Murrogh  sent  word  that  he  wished  to  come  to 
terms,  and  the  young  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  he  met.  But  the  par- 
ley ended  in  nothing,  for  they  could  not  agree  to  terms,  at  which 
King  Richard  was  greatly  disappointed  and  incensed,  and  he  vowed 
he  would  never  leave  Ireland  till  he  had  taken  ]\Iac  3vIurrogh  alive 
or  dead.     Accordingly  on  his  arrival  in  Dublin  he  made  arrange- 


DECLINE      OF     ENGLISH    RULE  69 

1399-1450 

ments  to  have  Mac  Murrogh  hunted  down.  But  before  they  could 
be  carried  out  he  was  recalled  to  England  by  alarming  news ;  and 
when  he  arrived  there  he  was  made  prisoner,  and  a  new  king,  Henry 
IV.,  w^as  placed  on  the  throne.  By  these  two  Irish  expeditions 
Richard  II.  lost  his  crown. 

After  the  king's  departure  Mac  Murrogh's  raids  became  so 
intolerable  that  the  government  agreed  to  compensate  him  for  his 
wife's  lands.  There  was  now  a  short  period  of  quietness ;  but  he 
renewed  the  war  in  1405,  and  two  years  after  suffered  severely  in 
a  battle  with  the  deputy.  But  twice  afterward  he  met  and  defeated 
the  English.  In  141 7  he  died.  He  was  the  most  heroic  and  per- 
severing defender  of  his  country  from  Brian  Boru  to  Hugh  O'Neill ; 
and  he  maintained  his  independence  for  nearly  half  a  century  just 
beside  the  Pale,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  reduce  him  to  submission. 

Little  or  no  change  in  Irish  affairs  marked  the  short  reign  of 
Henry  V.,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1413,  and  who  was  so  en- 
grossed with  France  that  he  gave  hardly  any  attention  to  Ireland. 
There  v/as  strife  everywhere,  and  the  native  chiefs  continued  their 
fierce  inroads  on  the  Pale.  The  vigorous  action  of  the  lord-lieuten- 
ant. Sir  John  Talbot,  in  1414,  gave  only  temporary  relief,  for  when 
he  w'as  gone  the  Irish  resumed  their  attacks. 

The  accession  of  Henry  VI.  in  1422  made  no  improvement  in 
the  country,  which  continued  to  be  everywhere  torn  by  strife :  and 
the  people  of  the  Pale  fared  neither  better  nor  worse  than  those  of 
the  rest  of  the  country.  But  what  greatly  added  to  their  misfor- 
tunes at  this  time  was  a  long  and  bitter  feud  between  two  of  the 
leading  Anglo-Irish  families,  the  Butlers  and  the  Talbots,  which 
was  carried  on  with  such  violence  that  it  put  a  stop  to  almost  all 
government  business  in  the  Pale,  and  brought  ruin  on  thousands 
of  the  poor  people.  For  more  than  twenty  years  this  fierce  dissen- 
sion continued,  while  within  the  Pale  all  was  confusion  and  cor- 
ruption. The  leading  English  officials  forced  shopkeepers  and 
others  to  supply  goods,  but  hardly  ever  paid  their  debts,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  robbed  the  king  of  his  lawful  revenues  and  enriched 
themselves.  During  this  time  the  soldiers  were  under  little  or  no 
restraint  and  did  just  as  they  pleased. 

Some  little  relief  came  when  Richard  Plantagenet,  Duke  of 
York,  a  distinguished  man,  a  prince  of  the  royal  blood  and  heir  to 
the  throne  of  England,  wms  appointed  lord  lieutenant.  He  won 
the  affections  of  the  Irish  both  of  native  and  English  descent  by 


70  IRELAND 

1450-1463 

treating  them  with  fairness  and  consideration — a  thing  they  had 
been  httle  accustomed  to.  The  native  chiefs  sent  him,  unasked,  as 
many  beeves  as  he  needed  for  his  great  household:  a  record  cred- 
itable to  both  sides,  for  it  showed  that  he  was  a  kind  and  just  man, 
and  that  they  could  be  grateful  and  generous  when  they  were  fairly 
treated.  He  was  appointed  for  ten  years;  but  he  had  not  been  in 
Ireland  for  more  than  one  year  when  Jack  Cade's  rebellion  broke 
out;  on  which  he  went  to  England  in  145 1  to  look  after  his  own 
interests,  and  during  his  absence  Ireland  was  governed  by  deputies 
appointed  by  himself. 

For  the  past  century  and  a  half  the  English  kings  had  been  so 
taken  up  with  wars  in  France,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  that  they  had 
little  leisure  to  attend  to  Ireland.  Accordingly  we  have  seen  the 
Irish  encroaching,  the  Pale  growing  smaller,  and  the  people  of  the 
settlement  more  oppressed  and  more  miserable  year  by  year.  But 
in  1454  began  in  England  the  tremendous  struggle  between  the 
houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  commonly  known  as  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses,  which  lasted  for  about  thirty  years,  and  during  which 
the  colony  fared  still  worse.  The  Geraldines  sided  with  the  house 
of  York,  and  the  Butlers  with  the  house  of  Lancaster;  and  they 
went  to  England,  with  many  others  of  the  Anglo-Irish,  to  take  part 
in  the  battles;  going  and  returning  as  occasion  required,  and  gen- 
erally leaving  the  settlements  in  Ireland  almost  wholly  unprotected 
during  their  absence.  Then  the  Irish  rose  up  everywhere,  overran 
the  lands  of  the  settlers,  and  took  back  whole  districts.  The  Pale 
became  smaller  than  ever,  till  it  included  only  the  county  Louth  and 
about  half  of  Dublin,  Meath,  and  Kildare.  At  one  time  not  more 
than  200  men  could  be  got  together  to  defend  it. 

When  the  Yorkists  prevailed,  and  Edward  IV.  was  proclaimed 
king  (1461),  the  Geraldines,  both  of  Desmond  and  Kildare,  were 
in  high  favor,  while  the  Butlers  were  in  disgrace.  These  two  fac- 
tions enacted  a  sort  of  miniature  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  in 
Ireland. 

Thomas,  the  eighth  Earl  of  Desmond — the  Great  Earl  as  he 
was  called — was  appointed  lord  deputy,  in  1463,  under  his  godson 
the  young  Duke  of  Clarence,  the  king's  brother,  wlio  though  ap- 
pointed lord  lieutenant,  never  came  to  Ireland.  Desmond  was  well 
received  by  the  Irish  of  both  races.  He  loved  learning  as  well  as 
any  of  the  native  princes,  and  he  showed  it  by  founding  a  college 
in  Youghal,  which  was  richly  endowed  by  him  and  by  the  succeed- 


DECLINE      OF     ENGLISH    RULE  71 

1463-1467 

ing  earls,  and  which  long  continued  to  flourish.  This  is  a  bright 
part  of  the  picture ;  but  there  is  a  sad  and  dark  side  also,  where  we 
see  how  the  ruin  of  the  Great  Earl  was  brought  about.  He  had  im- 
prudently let  fall  some  words  disrespectful  to  the  queen,  and  on 
some  charges  made  by  the  new  deputy  who  was  sent  for  the 
purpose,  he  was  executed,  1467. 

To  the  people  of  the  Pale  the  Irish  were  a  constant  source  of 
terror,  and  when  they  failed  to  crush  them  in  open  fight  they  some- 
times attempted  to  do  so  by  act  of  Parliament.  One  of  these  acts, 
passed  by  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1465,  ordained  that  every  Irish- 
man dwelling  in  the  Pale  was  to  dress  and  shave  like  the  English, 
and  to  take  an  English  surname  from  some  town  as  Trim,  Sutton, 
Cork;  or  of  a  color  as  Black,  Brown;  or  some  calling,  as  Smith, 
Carpenter,  on  pain  of  forfeiture  of  his  goods.  Then  began  the 
custom  of  changing  Irish  surnames  to  English  forms,  which  after- 
ward became  very  general.  Another  and  more  mischievous  meas- 
ure forbade  ships  from  fishing  in  the  seas  of  Irish  countries  (that 
is,  those  parts  of  Ireland  still  belonging  to  the  native  chiefs)  be- 
cause the  dues  went  to  make  the  Irish  people  prosperous  and  strong. 
But  the  worst  enactment  of  all  was  one  providing  that  it  was  law- 
ful to  decapitate  thieves  found  robbing  "  or  going  or  coming  any- 
where "  unless  they  had  an  Englishman  in  their  company ;  and 
whoever  did  so,  on  bringing  the  head  to  the  mayor  of  the  nearest 
town,  was  licensed  to  levy  a  good  sum  off  the  barony.  This  put  it 
in  the  power  of  any  evil-minded  person  to  kill  the  first  Irishman  he 
met,  pretending  he  was  a  thief,  and  to  raise  money  on  his  head. 
The  legislators  indeed  had  no  such  evil  intention :  for  the  act  was 
merely  a  desperate  attempt  to  keep  down  marauders  who  swarmed 
at  this  time  everywhere  through  the  Pale :  but  all  the  same  it  was 
a  very  wrong  and  dangerous  law. 


Chapter   XIII 

ACCESSION    OF    HENRY  VII.;    POYNINGS'   LAW 

1485-1494 

BY  the  accession,  in  1485,  of  Henry  VII.,  who  belonged  to 
.  the  Lancastrians,  that  great  party  finally  triumphed.  The 
Tudors,  of  whom  he  was  the  first,  were  a  strong-minded 
and  astute  race  of  sovereigns.  They  paid  more  attention  to  Irish 
affairs  than  their  predecessors  had  done;  and  they  ultimately  suc- 
ceeded in  recovering  all  that  had  been  lost  by  neglect  and  misman- 
agement, and  in  restoring  the  English  power  in  Ireland.  At  this 
time  all  the  chief  state  offices  in  Ireland  were  held  by  the  Ger- 
aldines ;  but  as  the  new  king  felt  that  he  could  not  govern  the  coun- 
try without  their  aid,  he  made  no  changes,  though  he  knew  well 
they  were  all  devoted  Yorkists.  He  had  a  very  insecure  hold  on 
his  own  throne,  and  he  thought  that  the  less  he  disturbed  matters 
in  Ireland  the  better.  Accordingly  the  great  Earl  of  Kildare,  who 
had  been  lord  deputy  for  several  years,  with  a  short  break,  was 
still  kept  on. 

But  the  Irish  retained  their  affection  for  the  House  of  York ; 
and  when  the  young  impostor  Lambert  Simnel  came  to  Ireland  and 
gave  out  that  he  was  the  Yorkist  prince.  Edward,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
he  was  received  with  open  arms,  not  only  by  the  deputy,  but  by 
almost  all  the  Anglo-Irish — nobles,  clergy,  and  people.  But  the 
city  of  Waterford  rejected  him  and  remained  steadfast  in  its  loy- 
alty; whence  it  got  the  name  of  Urhs  Intacta,  the  "untarnished 
city."  When  an  army  of  2000  Germans  came  to  support  him 
(1487)  he  was  actually  crowned  and  received  as  king. 

But  this  foolish  business  came  to  a  sudden  termination  when 
Simnel  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  in  England.  Then  Kildare 
and  the  others  humbly  sent  to  ask  pardon  of  the  king,  who,  dread- 
ing their  power  if  they  were  driven  to  rebellion,  took  no  severer 
steps  than  to  send  over  Sir  Richard  Edgecomb  to  exact  new  oaths 
of  allegiance,  retaining  Kildare  as  deputy.  In  the  following  year 
the  king  invited  them  to  a  banquet  at  Greenwich;  and  they  must 

72 


POYNINGS'LAW  73 

1492-1494 

have  felt  greatly  crestfallen  and  humiliated  when  they  saw  that  one 
of  the  waiters  who  attended  them  at  table  was  none  other  than 
their  idolized  "  prince  "  Lambert  Simnel. 

A  little  later  on,  reports  of  new  plots  in  Ireland  reached  the 
king's  ears,  whereupon  in  1492  he  removed  Kildare  from  the  office 
of  deputy.  These  reports  were  not  without  foundation,  for  now  a 
second  claimant  for  the  crown,  a  young  Fleming  named  Perkin 
Warbeck.  landed  in  Cork  in  1492  and  announced  that  he  was  Rich- 
ard, Duke  of  York,  one  of  the  two  princes  that  had  been  kept  in 
prison  by  Richard  III.  After  the  ridiculous  termination  of  the 
Simnel  imposture  one  would  think  it  hard  for  another  to  gain  a 
footing  in  Ireland ;  yet  Warbeck  w^as  at  once  accepted  by  the  citi- 
zens of  Cork ;  but  his  career,  which  belongs  to  English  rather  than 
to  Irish  history,  need  not  be  followed  here.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  after  causing  considerable  disturbance  in  Ireland,  he  was  at 
length  taken  and  hanged  at  Tyburn,  along  with  John  Walter, 
mayor  of  Cork,  his  chief  supporter  in  that  city.  It  was  mainly  the 
English  colonists  w'ho  were  concerned  in  the  episodes  of  Simnel 
and  Warbeck;  the  native  Irish  took  little  or  no  interest  in  either 
claimant. 

The  Irish  parliament  was  always  under  the  control  of  a  few 
great  lords,  who  could  have  any  acts  they  pleased  passed  in  it,  so 
that  it  gave  them  great  power,  and  its  laws  were  often  hasty,  harsh, 
and  oppressive,  and  sometimes  dangerous  to  the  king's  sovereignty. 
Henry  knew  all  this ;  and  the  experience  of  Simnel  and  Warbeck 
taught  him  that  his  Anglo-Irish  subjects  might,  at  any  favorable 
opportunity,  again  rise  in  rebellion  for  the  House  of  York.  He 
came  to  the  resolution  to  lessen  the  power  of  the  nobles  by  destroy- 
ing the  independence  of  their  parliament,  and  having  given  Sir 
Edward  Poynings  instructions  to  this  effect,  he  sent  him  over  as 
deputy.  Poynings"  first  proceeding  was  to  lead  an  expedition  to 
the  north  against  O'Hanlon  and  jNIagennis,  who  had  given  shelter 
to  some  of  W'arbeck's  supporters.  But  he  heard  a  rumor  that  the 
Earl  of  Kildare  was  conspiring  with  these  two  chiefs  to  intercept 
and  destroy  himself  and  his  army;  and  news  came  also  that  Kil- 
dare's  brother  had  risen  in  open  rebellion  and  had  seized  the  castle 
of  Carlow.  On  this,  Poynings,  patching  up  a  peace  with  O'Hanlon 
and  Magennis,  returned  south  and  recovered  the  castle. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  king's  commands,  he  convened  a 
parliament  at  Drogheda  in  November  of  1494,  the  memorable  par- 


74  IRELAND 

1494 

liament  in  which  the  act  since  known  as  "  Poynings'  Law "  was 
passed.  The  provisions  of  this  law  were  most  important :  No 
parliament  was  in  future  to  be  held  in  Ireland  until  the  heads  of 
all  the  acts  intended  to  be  passed  in  it  had  been  sent  to  the  king, 
with  a  full  statement  of  the  reasons  why  they  were  required,  and 
until  these  acts  had  been  approved  and  permission  to  pass  them 
granted  by  the  king  and  privy  council  of  England,  This  single 
provision  is  what  is  popularly  known  as  "  Poynings'  Law."  It 
was  the  most  important  of  all,  and  was  indeed  the  only  one  that 
turned  out  permanent. 

All  the  laws  lately  made  in  England,  affecting  the  public  weal, 
should  hold  good  in  Ireland.  This  referred  only  to  English  laws 
then  existing,  but  we  must  carefully  bear  in  mind  that  it  gave  no 
power  to  the  English  parliament  to  make  laws  for  Ireland  in  the 
future. 

The  Statute  of  Kilkenny,  which  had  become  quite  disre- 
garded, was  revived  and  confirmed,  except  the  part  forbidding  the 
use  of  the  Irish  tongue,  which  could  not  be  carried  out,  as  the 
language  was  now  used  everywhere,  even  throughout  the  English 
settlements.  But  this  attempt  at  revival  failed  as  completely  as  the 
original  act,  for  no  one  minded  it. 

For  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  settlement,  it  was  made 
felony  to  permit  enemies  or  rebels  to  pass  through  the  marches ; 
and  the  owners  of  march  lands  were  obliged  to  reside  on  them  or 
send  proper  deputies,  on  pain  of  losing  their  estates. 

The  exaction  of  coyne  and  livery  was  forbidden  in  any  shape 
or  form. 

Many  of  the  Anglo-Irish  families  had  adopted  the  Irish  war- 
cries  ;  the  use  of  these  was  now  strictly  forbidden. 

In  this  parliament  the  Earl  of  Kildare  was  attainted  for  high 
treason,  mainly  on  account  of  his  supposed  conspiracy  with  O'Han- 
lon  to  destroy  the  deputy;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  soon 
afterward  arrested  and  sent  a  prisoner  to  England.  The  next 
chapter  will  tell  all  about  his  subsequent  career. 

The  general  purpose  of  Poynings'  legislation  was  to  increase 
the  power  of  the  king  and  diminish  that  of  the  nobles,  who  were 
the  chief  source  of  danger  to  the  Crown.  Up  to  this  the  Irish 
parliament  had  been  independent;  it  was  convened  by  the  chief 
governor  whenever  and  wherever  he  pleased,  and  it  made  its  laws 
without  any  interference  from  the  parliament  of  England.      Now 


POYNINGS'LAW  75 

1494 

Poynings'  Law  took  away  all  these  great  privileges;  and  the  Irish 
parliament  could  no  longer  make  laws  of  any  kind  whatever  with- 
out the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  English  king  and  council. 
This  indeed  was  of  small  consequence  at  the  time,  for  the  parlia- 
ment was  only  for  the  Pale,  or  rather  for  the  few  lords  who  sum- 
moned and  controlled  it,  and  no  native  Irishman  could  sit  in  it. 
But  when  at  a  later  period  English  law  was  made  to  extend  over  the 
whole  country,  and  the  Irish  parliament  made  laws  for  all  the  people 
of  Ireland,  then  Poynings'  Law,  which  still  remained  in  force,  was 
felt  by  the  people  to  be  one  of  their  greatest  grievances.  Many 
years  later  the  Irish  parliamentary  leaders  succeeded  after  a  long 
struggle  in  having  it  repealed. 

The  English  rule  in  Ireland,  which  had  been  steadily  declining 
since  the  time  of  John,  reached  its  lowest  ebb  about  the  time  of 
Poynings'  Law.  In  obedience  to  one  provision  of  this  law,  a 
double  ditch  or  rampart  was  built  at  the  time  all  along  on  the  boun- 
dary of  the  Leinster  settlement  from  sea  to  sea  to  keep  out  the  Irish, 
of  which  some  remains  can  still  be  traced.  This  little  territory  was 
called  the  Pale,  and  it  remained  so  circumscribed  for  many  years, 
but  afterward  became  enlarged  from  time  to  time. 


Chapter    XIV 

THE   GERALDINES.     1495-1534 

IN  all  their  branches  the  Geraldines  had  become  thoroughly 
Irish.  They  spoke  and  wrote  the  Irish  language  in  their 
daily  life,  read  and  loved  Irish  books  and  Irish  lore  of  every 
kind,  kept  bards,  physicians,  brehons,  historians,  and  story-tellers 
as  part  of  their  household,  and  intermarried,  fostered,  and  gossiped 
witli  the  leading  Irish  families.  They  were  nearly  always  at  war, 
and  when  the  Reformation  came  they  were  champions  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  When  we  add  to  all  this  that  they  were  known 
to  be  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family,  which  told  for  much  in  Ire- 
land, we  have  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  well-known  fact  that 
the  old  Irish  were  rather  more  devoted  to  those  Geraldines  than  to 
their  own  chiefs  of  pure  Celtic  blood. 

The  man  of  most  consequence  of  the  Leinster  Geraldines  at 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  was  Garrett  or  Gerald 
Fitzgerald,  the  eighth  Earl  of  Kildare — "  The  Great  Earl  " — who 
stood  in  near  relations  by  intermarriage  with  the  O'Neills,  the 
Butlers,  and  others,  and  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  though  some- 
what odd  and  eccentric.  He  was  now  in  the  Tower  awaiting  trial, 
on  suspicion  of  conspiring  against  Deputy  Poynings.  As  Ireland 
had  meantime  become  almost  unmanageable,  it  struck  King  Henry 
VII.  that  perhaps  the  best  course  to  follow  was  to  govern  the 
country  through  him.  One  of  his  accusers  exclaimed  with  great 
veliemence,  "  All  Ireland  cannot  rule  this  man !  "  The  king  ended 
the  matter  by  replying,  "  Then  if  all  Ireland  cannot  rule  him,  he 
shall  rule  all  Ireland !  "  Thus  the  earl  triumphed,  and  he  was 
restored  and  made  lord  lieutenant,  in  1496. 

The  king  was  not  mistaken  in  his  choice ;  the  Great  Earl  was 
loyal  to  his  trust,  and  turned  out  a  faithful  and  successful  governor. 
The  most  important  event  he  was  ever  engaged  in  was  the  battle 
of  Knockdoe,  a  battle  resulting  from  a  private  quarrel,  which 
lined  up  the  North  against  the  South,  and  was  the  most  obstinate, 
bloody,  and  destructive  fought  in  Ireland  since  the  Invasion,  with 

76 


THEGERALDINES  77 

1496-1529 

the  single  exception  of  the  battle  of  Athenry.  The  southern  men 
were  totally  overthrown.  It  was  really  a  battle  of  Irish  against 
Irish — one  of  those  senseless  conflicts  in  which  they  merely  slaugh- 
tered each  other  without  any  counterbalancing  advantage.  It  was 
considered  to  have  done  so  great  a  service  to  the  English  cause,  by 
weakening  the  Irish,  that  the  king  rewarded  Kildare  by  making 
him  a  Knight  of  the  Garter. 

The  Great  Earl  was  retained  as  deputy  by  Henry  VIII.  in  1509. 
He  continued  his  raids,  even  though  once  utterly  defeated,  until  he 
was  killed  in  one  of  his  assaults.  He  was  succeeded  as  deputy,  in 
15 13,  by  his  son,  Garrett  Oge  Fitzgerald,  the  ninth  earl,  who  was 
quite  as  fond  of  fighting  as  his  father  had  been,  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  expeditions  against  the  Irish  chiefs.  His  unbroken 
career  of  victory  excited  the  jealousy  of  some  of  the  other  Anglo- 
Irish  lords,  especially  the  Butlers,  till  at  last  Pierce  Roe,  Earl  of 
Ormond,  managed  to  gain  the  ear  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  disliked 
the  Geraldines.  Through  the  cardinal's  influence  Kildare  was  now 
summoned  to  England  to  answer  charges  of  enriching  himself 
from  the  crown  revenues  and  of  holding  traitorous  correspondence 
with  the  Irish  enemies.  Soon  afterward  King  Henry  VIII.,  at 
Wolsey's  suggestion,  sent  over  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey, 
as  lord  lieutenant. 

Surrey  sided  with  Kildare's  enemies,  and  when  he  became 
tired  of  his  wars  with  the  Irish  chiefs  returned  to  England,  leaving 
Pierce  Roe,  Kildare's  mortal  enemy,  as  lord  deputy.  Kildare  had 
meantime  married  a  relative  of  the  king,  and  in  1523  was  per- 
mitted to  return  to  Ireland.  He  was  enraged  beyond  measure  on 
finding  all  the  damage  done  in  his  absence,  and,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  the  feud  now  blazed  up  with  tenfold  fury,  so  that  the  king 
had  to  send  over  commissioners  to  investigate  the  dispute.  Their 
decision  was  for  Kildare,  whom  they  appointed  deputy  in  1524  in 
place  of  Ormond. 

But  Kildare  was  exposed  to  danger  from  other  quarters.  His 
enemies,  especially  the  two  most  powerful,  Pierce  Roe  in  Ireland, 
and  \\'olsey  in  England,  kept  wide  awake,  and  succeeded  at  last  so 
far  as  to  have  him  again  summoned  to  England  in  1526,  to  answer 
several  charges.  But  in  three  years  he  was  appointed  deputy  once 
more.  There  was  no  single  enemy  that  he  feared,  and  he  used  his 
great  power  unsparingly.  He  removed  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
frum  the  post  of  Lord  Chancellor,  allied  the  most  powerful  of  the 


78  IRELAND 

1529-1534 

Irish  chiefs  to  himself  by  marriages,  and  burned  and  harried  the 
English  villages. 

All  these  proceedings  were  eagerly  watched  and  reported  to 
the  king  with  exaggeration  by  Kildare's  enemies;  the  result  of 
which  was  that  for  the  third  time  he  was  summoned  to  England  to 
o-'we  an  account  of  his  government.  There  is  some  reason  to 
suspect  that  he  contemplated  open  rebellion  and  resistance,  for  now 
he  furnished  his  castles  with  great  guns,  pikes,  and  powder  from 
tlie  government  stores  in  the  castle  of  Dublin.  At  any  rate  he 
delayed  obeying  the  order  as  long  as  he  could.  But  in  1534  there 
came  a  peremptory  mandate  from  the  king,  and  the  earl,  with  a 
hea\y  heart,  set  about  preparing  for  his  journey,  for  he  seems  to 
have  had  some  forebodings  of  coming  evil. 

He  left  liis  son.  the  young  Lord  Thomas,  as  deputy  in  his 
place.  Before  bidding  the  young  man  farewell,  he  spoke  in  this 
manner  to  him  in  presence  of  the  council :  "  Son  Thomas,  you 
know  that  my  sovereign  lord  the  king  hath  sent  for  me  into  Eng- 
land, and  what  shall  betide  me  God  knoweth,  for  I  know  not.  But 
liowever  it  falleth,  I  am  now  well  stept  in  years,  and  so  I  must 
soon  decease,  because  I  am  old.  Wherefore  insomuch  as  my  winter 
is  well  nigh  ended,  and  the  spring  of  your  age  is  now  budding,  my 
will  is  that  you  behave  so  wisely  in  these  your  green  years,  as  that 
with  honor  you  may  grow  to  the  catching  of  that  hoary  winter  in 
which  you  see  your  father  fast  faring.  And  whereas  it  pleaseth 
the  king  his  majesty  that  upon  my  departure  here  hence  I  should 
substitute  in  my  room  such  a  one  as  I  could  answer  for,  albeit  I 
know  your  3'ears  are  tender  and  your  judgment  not  fully  rectified, 
and  therefore  I  might  with  good  cause  be  excused  from  putting  a 
naked  sword  in  a  young  man's  hand ;  yet  forasmuch  as  T  am  your 
father  I  am  well  contented  to  bear  that  oar-stroke  with  you  in 
steering  3'our  ship,  because  as  your  father  I  may  commend  you 
[for  steering  well],  and  correct  you  as  my  son  for  the  wrong  hand- 
ling of  your  helm.  And  now  I  am  resolved  day  by  day  to  learn 
rather  linw  to  die  in  the  fear  of  God,  than  to  live  in  the  pomp  of 
the  world.  Wherefore,  my  son,  in  all  your  affairs  be  ruled  by  this 
Board,  that  for  wisdom  is  able  to  lesson  you  with  sound  and  sage 
advice.  For  albeit  in  authority  you  rule  them,  yet  in  counsel  they 
must  rule  you.  My  son,  although  my  fatherly  afifection  would 
make  my  discourse  longer,  yet  I  trust  your  good  inclination  permits 
it  to  be  shorter.     And  upon  tliat  assurance,  here  in  the  presence  of 


THEGERALDINES  79 

1534 

this  honorable  assembly,  I  deliver  you  this  sword  of  office."  Thus 
in  tears  the  earl  spoke  his  last  farewell,  and  committing  his  son  and 
the  members  of  the  council  to  God,  he  set  sail  for  England.  On 
his  arrival  in  London  he  was  sent  prisoner  to  the  Tower  on  various 
charges.  He  might  possibly  have  got  through  his  present  diffi- 
culties, as  he  had  through  many  others,  but  for  what  befell  in 
Ireland. 

Lord  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  who  was  afterward  known  as 
"  Silken  Thomas,"  from  the  gorgeous  trappings  of  himself  and  his 
retinue,  was  then  in  his  twenty-first  year,  brave,  open,  and  generous. 
But  the  earl  his  father  could  not  have  made  a  more  unfortunate 
choice  as  deputy,  for  there  were  in  Dublin  plotting  enemies  who 
hated  all  his  race,  and  they  led  the  young  man  to  ruin  by  a  base  trap. 
They  spread  a  report  that  his  father  had  been  beheaded  in  England, 
and  that  all  his  relations  were  going  to  be  treated  in  the  same  way. 
Whereupon,  with  his  brilliant  retinue  of  seven  score  horsemen,  the 
impetuous  young  lord  rode  through  the  streets  to  St.  Mary's 
Abbey;  and  entering  the  chamber  where  the  council  sat,  he  openly 
renounced  his  allegiance,  and  proceeded  to  deliver  up  the  sword 
of  office  and  the  robes  of  state.  His  friend  Archbishop  Cromer,  lord 
chancellor,  besought  him  with  tears  in  his  eyes  to  forego  his  pur- 
pose ;  but  at  that  moment  the  voice  of  an  Irish  bard  was  heard  from 
among  the  young  nobleman's  followers,  praising  the  Silken  Lord, 
and  calling  on  him  to  avenge  his  father's  death.  Casting  the  sword 
from  his  hand,  he  rushed  forth  with  his  men  to  enter  on  that  wild 
and  hopeless  struggle  which  ended  in  the  ruin  of  himself  and  his 
family.  The  earl,  his  father,  on  hearing  of  his  son's  rebellion,  took 
to  his  bed,  and  being  already  sick  of  palsy,  died  in  a  few  days 
broken-hearted.  By  his  death,  his  son  Lord  Thomas  became  the 
tenth  Earl  of  Kildare. 

Collecting  a  large  force  of  the  Irish  septs  in  and  around  the 
Pale,  Lord  Thomas  led  them  to  Dublin,  and  laid  siege  to  the  castle. 
The  archbishop  tried  to  flee,  but  was  captured  and  brought  before 
Lord  Thomas.  He  threw  himself  on  his  knees  to  beg  for  mercy, 
and  the  young  lord  ordered  his  attendants  to  take  him  away  in 
custody  and  then  turned  aside ;  but  they,  either  misunderstanding 
or  disobeying  his  words,  murdered  the  archbishop  on  the  spot. 
This  fearful  crime  brought  a  sentence  of  excommunication  against 
Lord  Thomas  and  his  followers.  Nevertheless  the  rebellion  went 
on,  and  several  powerful  Irish  chiefs  joined  his  standard.      But  his 


80  IRELAND 

1534-1537 

men  were  not  able  to  take  Dublin  Castle,  and  at  last  the  citizens, 
tired  of  their  disorderly  conduct,  turned  on  them  and  chased  them 
outside  the  walls  of  the  city. 

In  ^larch,  1535,  Skeffington  the  deputy  began  his  measures  by 
laying-  siege  to  the  castle  of  Maynooth,  and  after  a  siege  of  nine 
(lays,  during  which  the  castle  was  battered  by  artillery,  then  for  the 
first  time  used  on  any  important  occasion  in  Ireland,  he  took  it  by 
storm,  and  massacred  the  garrison.  But  Lord  Thomas'  allies 
began  to  fall  away,  and  Lord  Leonard  Grey,  the  military  com- 
mander, took  active  measures  and  made  short  work  of  the  rebellion. 
Finally  Lord  Thomas  delivered  himself  up  to  Lord  Grey,  on  con- 
dition that  his  life  should  be  spared.  He  was  conveyed  to  England 
in  1535  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Here  he  was  left  for  about 
eighteen  months,  neglected  and  in  great  misery. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrest  his  five  uncles  were  treacherously 
taken  by  Grey,  who  invited  them  to  a  banquet,  and  had  them  seized 
and  manacled  on  their  arrival.  Though  it  was  well  known  that 
three  of  them  had  openly  discountenanced  the  rebellion,  and  not- 
withstanding the  promise  made  by  Grey  to  the  young  lord,  he  and 
his  uncles  were  all  executed  at  Tyburn  in  1537.  Thus  fell,  at  one 
cruel  blow,  the  great  and  illustrious  house  of  Kildare,  for  though 
the  earldom  and  an  heir  to  it  remained,  and  the  lands  were  ulti- 
mately restored,  the  family  never  attained  its  former  power  and 
magnificence.  During  the  rebellion,  though  it  lasted  little  more 
than  a  year,  the  County  Kildare  was  wasted  and  depopulated,  and 
the  whole  Pale,  as  well  as  the  country'  round  it,  suffered  unspeak- 
able desolation  and  misery.  It  was  a  reckless  enterprise,  for  there 
never  was  the  remotest  chance  of  success ;  the  only  excuse  was  the 
extreme  youth  and  inexperience  of  Lord  Thomas  Fitzgerald. 

There  remained  the  two  sons  of  the  ninth  earl  by  Lady  Eliza- 
betli  Grey.  Gerald  (or  Garrett),  then  about  twelve  years  of  age, 
was  hid  and  secretly  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety.  Great  efforts 
were  now  made  to  discover  the  place  of  young  Gerald's  retreat,  and 
certain  death  awaited  him  if  he  should  be  captured.  But  he  had 
friends  in  every  part  of  Ireland,  for  the  Irish,  both  native  and  of 
luiglisli  descent,  had  an  extraordinary  love  for  the  house  of  Kil- 
dare. By  sending  him  from  place  to  place  disguised,  his  guardians 
managed  to  baflle  the  spies  that  were  everywhere  on  the  w-atch  for 
him. 

The  earls  of  Kildare  were  connected,  either  by  blood  or  mar- 


THEGERALDINES  81 

1537-1554 

riage,  with  most  of  the  leading  Irish  famiHes,  both  native  and 
Anglo-Irish,  who  were  all  incensed  at  the  execution  of  the  six 
Geraldines;  and  the  chiefs  now  (1537)  formed  a  league — the 
First  Geraldine  League — which  included  the  O'Donnells,  the  Des- 
monds, the  O'Conors,  the  O'Briens,  the  MacCarthys,  and  many 
others,  with  the  object  of  restoring  the  young  nobleman  to  his 
rightful  place,  appointing  a  guard  of  twenty-four  horsemen  to  wait 


IRELAND 
1550 


on  him   continually.     This  greatly   alarmed  the  authorities,   and 
extraordinary  efforts  were  made  to  capture  him,  but  all  in  vain. 

At  the  end  of  two  years  the  boy,  disguised  as  a  peasant,  was 
sent  to  the  Continent.  There  he  was  received  with  great  distinc- 
tion. He  was,  however,  dogged  everywhere  by  spies,  greedy  to 
earn  the  golden  reward  for  his  capture,  but  he  succeeded  in  eluding 
them  all.  And  he  was  pursued  from  kingdom  to  kingdom  by  the 
English  ambassador,  who  in  vain  demanded  from  the  several  sov- 
ereigns that  he  should  be  given  up.  He  found  his  way  at  last  to 
Rome  to  his  kinsman  Cardinal  Pole,  who  gave  him  safe  asylum, 
and  educated  him  as  became  a  prince.  After  a  career  full  of 
adventure  and  many  narrow  escapes,  he  was  reinstated  in  all  his 
possessions  by  Edward  VI.  in  1552;  and  in  1554  Queen  Mary  re- 
stored his  title,  and  he  succeeded  as  the  eleventh  Earl  of  Kildare. 


Chapter  XV 

RENEWAL   OF    STRIFE.     1535-1560 

MATTERS  had  come  to  such  a  pass  in  1535  in  Ireland 
that  the  Enghsh  Government  had  to  choose  one  or  the 
other  of  two  courses :  either  to  give  up  the  country  al- 
together, or  to  put  forth  the  strength  they  had  hitherto  held  back 
and  regain  their  authority.  Henry  VIII.,  with  his  strong  will, 
determined  to  attempt  the  restoration  of  the  English  power,  and,  as 
we  shall  see,  he  succeeded. 

A  few  years  before  the  time  we  have  now  arrived  at  King 
Plenry  had  begun  his  quarrel  with  Rome,  the  upshot  of  which  was 
that  he  threw  off  all  spiritual  allegiance  to  the  Pope,  and  made 
himself  supreme  head  of  the  church  in  his  own  kingdom  of  Eng- 
land. He  made  little  or  no  change  in  religion :  on  the  contrary 
he  maintained  the  chief  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
resisted  the  progress  of  the  Reformation.  All  he  wanted  was  that 
he,  and  not  the  Pope,  should  be  head. 

He  was  now  determined  to  be  head  of  the  church  in  Ireland 
also ;  and  to  carry  out  his  measures,  he  employed  the  deputy 
Skeffington,  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  George  Brown,  formerly  a 
London  friar,  whom  the  king  appointed  Archbishop  of  Dublin  in 
place  of  the  murdered  Archbishop  Allen.  Brown  now  (1535) 
went  to  work  with  great  energy,  but  he  was  vehemently  ojDposed  by 
Cromer,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  and  he  made  no  impression  on  the 
Anglo-Irish  of  the  Pale,  who  showed  not  the  least  disposition  to 
go  with  him.  Finding  all  his  efforts  fail,  a  parliament  was  con- 
vened by  his  advice  in  Dublin,  which  in  1536  passed  an  act  making 
the  king  supreme  spiritual  head  of  the  church.  An  oath  of  su- 
jjremacy  was  to  be  taken  by  all  government  officers,  i.  e.,  an  oath 
that  the  king  was  spiritual  head  of  the  church,  and  anyone  who  was 
bound  to  take  it  and  refused  was  adjudged  guilty  of  treason.  Ap- 
peals to  the  Pni:>e  in  matters  connected  with  the  church  were  for- 
bidden; the  king  would  henceforth  settle  all  these.      The  monas- 

82 


RENEWAL     OF     STRIFE  83 

1541 

teries  all  through  Ireland,  except  a  few  in  some  remote  districts, 
were  suppressed,  and  their  property  was  either  kept  for  the  king  or 
given  to  laymen.  About  four  hundred  altogether  were  broken  up, 
and  the  great  body  of  the  inmates  were  turned  out  on  the  world 
without  any  provision.  The  deputy,  Lord  Grey,  now  entered  vig- 
orously on  the  task  of  restoring  quietness,  and  so  weakened  the 
Geraldine  League  that  it  never  came  to  anything 

Hitherto  the  English  kings,  from  the  time  of  John,  had  borne 
the  title  of  "  Lord  of  Ireland  " ;  it  was  now  resolved  to  confer  on 
Henry  the  title  of  "  King  of  Ireland."  With  this  object  a  parlia- 
ment was  assembled  in  Dublin  on  June  12,  1541,  and  in  order  to 
lend  greater  importance  to  its  decisions,  a  number  of  the  leading 
Irish  chiefs  were  induced  to  attend.  This  parliament  accordingly 
is  remarkable  as  being  the  first  ever  attended  by  native  chiefs. 
Among  them  were  also  many  Anglo-Irish  chiefs  who  had  seldom  or 
never  before  been  in  parliament.  For  the  king  had  instructed  his 
deputy,  Sir  Anthony  St.  Leger,  to  treat  with  them  all  in  a  kindly 
and  generous  spirit,  and  as  they  were  by  this  time  heartily  weary 
of  strife,  they  showed  a  general  disposition  to  meet  the  king's  offers 
of  reconciliation  and  peace.  The  act  conferring  the  title  of  King 
of  Ireland  on  Henry  and  his  successors  was  passed  through  both 
houses  rapidly,  and  without  opposition.  The  Irish,  and  many  of 
the  Anglo-Irish  lords,  did  not  understand  one  word  of  English,  and 
they  were  much  pleased  when  the  earl  of  Ormond  translated  into 
Irish  for  them  the  speeches  of  the  lord  chancellor  and  the  speaker. 
There  was  general  rejoicing,  and  titles  were  conferred  on  many 
of  the  chiefs.  Conn  O'Neill  was  made  Earl  of  Tyrone,  and  his 
(reputed)  son  Matthew  was  made  Baron  of  Dungannon,  with  the 
right  to  succeed  as  Earl  of  Tyrone.  O'Brien  was  made  Earl  of 
Thomond;  INIac  William  Burke  was  created  Earl  of  Clanrickard, 
and  many  other  chiefs  all  over  the  country  had  minor  titles. 

Putting  out  of  sight  the  question  of  supremacy  and  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Irish  monasteries,  Henry's  treatment  of  Ireland  was 
on  the  whole  considerate  and  conciliatory,  though  with  an  occa- 
sional outburst  of  cruelty.  He  persistently  refused  to  expel  or 
exterminate  the  native  Irish  people  to  make  room  for  new  colonies, 
though  often  urged  to  do  so  by  his  mischievous  Irish  officials.  The 
result  was  that  the  end  of  his  reign  found  the  chiefs  submissive  and 
contented,  the  country  at  peace,  and  the  English  power  in  Ireland 
stronger  than  ever  it  had  been  before.      Had  a  similar  line  of  con- 


84  IRELAND 

1541-1551 

duct  been  followed  in  the  succeeding  reigns,  some  of  the  tragic 
events  that  came  later  might  never  have  occurred. 

If  there  had  been  no  influences  from  the  outside  to  stir  up  dis- 
cord after  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  the 
Irish  people  of  all  classes,  with  their  own  parliament,  would  have 
settled  down  in  peace,  prosperity,  and  contentment  under  the  rule 
of  the  kings  of  England,  and  there  now  appeared  every  prospect 
that  this  state  of  things  would  come  to  pass.  But  there  were  causes 
of  strife  in  store  for  Ireland  that  no  one  at  the  time  ever  dreamed 
of;  so  that  the  condition  of  the  country,  instead  of  improving, 
became  gradually  much  worse  than  ever  it  had  been,  even  during 
the  evil  times  we  have  been  treating  of.  Before  resuming  our 
regular  narrative  it  will  be  better  to  state  the  circumstances  that 
brought  about  this  state  of  things. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.  the  government  in  course  of 
time  entered  on  the  task  of  forcing  the  Irish  people  to  become 
Protestant,  and  they  also  began  to  plant  the  country  with  colonies 
from  England  and  Scotland,  for  whom  the  native  inhabitants  were 
to  be  expelled.  These  two  projects  were  either  directly  or  in- 
directly the  causes  of  nearly  all  the  dreadful  wars  that  desolated  this 
unhappy  country  during  the  next  century  and  a  half,  for  the  Irish 
people  resisted  both.  One  project — the  Plantations — partially  suc- 
ceeded ;  the  other — the  religious  one — failed. 

But  there  were  other  circumstances  that  tended  to  bring  on 
disturbance,  though  of  less  importance  than  the  two  above-men- 
tioned. It  will  be  recollected  that  an  Irish  chief  had  a  tract  of  land 
for  life,  which,  after  his  death  went,  by  the  Law  of  Tanistry,  to  his 
successor.  But  now  when  a  chief  who  had  got  an  English  title 
from  the  king  died,  his  eldest  son  or  his  next  heir  succeeded  to  title 
and  land,  according  to  English  law,  but  according  to  the  Irish 
custom,  he  whom  the  tribe  elected  succeeded  to  the  chiefship  and 
to  the  mensal  land.  Thus  when  this  titled  chief  died,  English  and 
Irish  law  were,  in  a  double  sense,  opposed  to  each  other,  and  there 
was  generally  a  contest,  both  for  the  headship  and  for  the  land,  in 
which  the  government  supported  the  heir,  and  the  tribe  the  new 
chief  elected  by  them.  This  was  the  origin  of  many  very  serious 
disturbances. 

Anr)tlier  fruitful  source  of  bitter  heartburnings  was  the  con- 
tinual and  most  unwise  harshness  of  the  government,  by  which  they 
turned   both    natives   and   colonists   against    them.       To    such    an 


RENEWAL     OF     STRIFE  85 

1551-1558 

extent  was  this  carried — so  odious  did  the  authorities  make  them- 
selves— without  the  least  necessity,  that  any  invader,  no  matter 
from  what  quarter,  would  have  been  welcomed  and  aided,  by  both 
native  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish. 

A  disquieting  agency  less  serious  than  any  of  the  preceding, 
but  still  a  decided  cause  of  disturbance,  was  the  settled  policy  of 
the  Tudors  to  anglicize  the  Irish  people;  to  make  them,  as  it  were, 
English  in  everything.  To  accomplish  this  the  government  em- 
ployed all  the  means  at  their  disposal,  although  with  little  success. 
Acts  of  Parliament  were  passed  commanding  the  natives  to  drop 
their  Irish  language  and  learn  English — a  thing  impossible  for  a 
whole  people — to  take  English  names  instead  of  their  own,  and  to 
ride  (with  saddle),  dress,  and  live  after  the  English  fashion. 
The  legislators  undertook  to  regulate  how  the  hair  was  to  be  worn 
and  how  the  beard  was  to  be  clipped;  and  for  women,  the  color 
of  their  dresses,  the  number  of  yards  of  material  they  were  to  use, 
the  sort  of  hats  they  were  to  wear,  and  many  other  such  like  silly 
provisions.  These  laws,  as  might  be  expected,  were  hardly  ever 
obeyed,  so  that  they  generally  came  to  nothing,  for  the  people  went 
on  speaking  Irish,  shaving,  riding  without  saddle,  and  dressing 
just  the  same  as  before.  But  like  all  such  laws,  they  were  very 
exasperating,  for  they  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  ill-conditioned 
person  to  insult  and  harass  his  Irish  neighbors,  and  they  were 
among  the  causes  that  rendered  the  English  Government  of  that 
time  so  hated  in  Ireland. 

The  death  of  Henry  VIII.  removed  all  check  to  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  was  now  pushed  forward  vigorously  in  England.  In 
1 55 1,  the  fifth  year  of  Edward's  reign,  the  chief  Protestant  doc- 
trines and  forms  of  worship  were  proclaimed  in  Ireland  by  Sir 
iVnthony  St.  Leger,  while  George  Brown,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
exerted  himself  to  spread  the  Reformation,  but  they  could  only 
reach  the  few  people  in  the  service  of  the  government,  and  the 
Reformation  made  no  progress.  The  work  was  carried  on,  how- 
ever, without  violence,  and  there  was  on  the  whole  little  disturbance 
in  Ireland  on  the  score  of  religion  during  Edward's  short  reign. 

Queen  J\Iary,  who  succeeded  Edward  VI.  in  1553,  restored  the 
Catholic  religion  in  England  and  Ireland;  and  Ireland,  during  her 
reign,  was  quite  free  from  religious  persecution.  The  Catholics 
were  now  the  masters,  but  they  showed  little  disposition  to  molest 
the  few   Protestants   that  lived   among  them,   allowing  them   full 


86  IRELAND 

1558-1560 

liberty  to  worship  in  their  own  way.  Ireland  indeed  was  regarded 
as  such  a  haven  of  safety,  that  many  Protestant  families  fled  hither 
during  the  troubles  of  Mary's  reign  in  England. 

On  the  death  of  Mary  in  1558  Elizabeth  became  queen.  Henry 
VIII.  had  transferred  the  headship  of  the  church  from  the  Pope  to 
himself;  Edward  VI.  had  changed  the  state  religion  from  Catholic 
to  Protestant;  Mary  from  Protestant  to  Catholic,  and  now  there 
was  to  be  a  fourth  change,  followed  by  results  far  more  serious  and 
lasting  than  any  previously  experienced.  A  parliament  was  as- 
sembled in  Dublin  in  1560,  to  restore  the  Protestant  religion,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  the  whole  system  introduced  by  Mary  was  reversed. 
The  Act  of  Supremacy  was  revived,  and  all  officials  and  clergymen 
were  to  take  the  oath  or  be  dismissed.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  was 
also,  reintroduced.  This  was  an  act  commanding  all  people  to  use 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  (the  Protestant  Prayer  Book),  and 
to  attend  the  Protestant  service  on  Sunday  under  pain  of  censure 
and  a  fine  of  twelve  pence  for  each  absence — about  three  dollars  of 
our  money. 

Wherever  these  new  regulations  were  enforced,  the  Catholic 
clergy  had  of  course  to  abandon  their  churches,  for  they  could  not 
hold  them  without  taking  the  oath.  But  they  went  among  the 
people  and  took  care  of  religion  just  the  same  as  before.  In  some 
places  the  new  Act  of  Uniformity  was  now  brought  sharply  into 
play,  and  fines  were  inflicted  on  those  who  absented  themselves  from 
church,  but  this  compulsion  prevailed  only  in  the  Pale  and  in  some 
few  other  places.  In  far  the  greatest  part  of  Ireland  the  govern- 
ment had  no  influence,  and  the  Catholics  were  not  interfered  with. 
Even  within  the  Pale  the  great  body  of  the  people  took  no  notice 
of  proclamations,  the  law  could  not  be  enforced,  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity was  very  much  a  dead  letter,  and  the  greater  number  of  the 
parishes  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  priests.  From  the  time  of 
Elizabeth  till  the  disestablishment  of  the  church  in  1869,  Protes- 
tantism remained  the  religion  of  the  state  in  Ireland. 


Chapter    XVI 

TWO   REBELLIONS.     1551-1583 

DURING  the  century  following-  the  death  of  King  Henry 
VIII.  there  were  four  great  rebellions  which  almost  de- 
populated the  country:  the  Rebellion  of  Shane  O'Neill, 
the  Geraldine  Rebellion,  the  Rebellion  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  and  the 
Rebellion  of  1641 — after  which  came  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
In  the  following  chapters  these  will  be  all  related  in  the  proper 
order. 

The  first  arose  over  the  question  as  to  which  of  Conn  O'Neill's 
sons  should  succeed  to  the  Earldom  of  Tyrone.  The  father  first 
acknowledged  Matthew,  but  later  took  Shane's  part,  whereupon  the 
earl  was  captured  by  the  English,  and  kept  at  Dublin.  Shane  was 
instantly  up  in  arms  to  avenge  his  father's  capture,  and  to  maintain 
what  he  believed  was  his  right  against  Matthew  and  the  govern- 
ment, and  so  commenced  a  quarrel  that  cost  England  more  men 
and  money  than  any  single  struggle  they  had  yet  entered  upon  in 
Ireland. 

The  deputy.  Sir  James  Croft,  made  three  several  attempts 
during  1551  and  1552  to  reduce  him  to  submission,  and  failed 
in  all.  These  hostilities  went  on  till  a  great  part  of  Ulster  was 
wasted,  but  still  O'Neill  showed  not  the  least  disposition  to  yield. 
At  last  they  thought  it  as  well  to  let  him  alone,  and  for  the  next  five 
or  six  years  no  serious  attempt  was  made  to  reduce  him. 

In  the  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  accession  iMatthew  was  as- 
sassinated. When  the  earl  died  in  1559,  Matthew's  son,  according 
to  English  law,  should  have  succeeded,  but  Shane  was  elected 
"  The  O'Neill  "  in  accordance  with  ancient  Irish  custom.  The 
government  took  more  or  less  direct  action  against  him,  but  Shane 
made  himself  master  of  all  Ulster.  When  assassination  failed  the 
queen  adopted  a  pacific  method ;  she  invited  him  to  London,  and 
received  him  very  graciously.  The  redoubtable  chief  and  his 
retainers,  all  in  their  strange  native  attire,  were  viewed  with 
curiosity  and  wonder.      He  strode  through  the  court  to  the  royal 

87 


88  IRELAND 

1562-1563 

presence,  as  Camden  tells  us,  between  two  lines  of  wondering  cour- 
tiers; and  behind  him  marched  his  galloglasses,  their  heads  bare, 
their  long  hair  curling  down  on  their  shoulders  and  clipped  short  in 
front  just  above  the  eyes.  They  wore  a  loose  wide-sleeved  saffron- 
dyed  tunic,  and  over  this  a  short  shaggy  mantle  flung  across  the 
shoulders.  On  January  6,  1562,  he  made  formal  submission  to  the 
queen,  in  presence  of  the  court  and  the  foreign  ambassadors. 

The  London  authorities  did  not  deal  fairly  with  O'Neill,  and 
took  advantage  of  circumstances  to  impose  severe  conditions  on 
him.  Shane  was  crafty,  and  so  managed  matters  that  he  was 
permitted  to  return  to  Ulster,  with  a  pardon,  and  all  expenses  paid. 
He  had  no  intention  of  holding  to  the  conditions,  however,  and 
renewed  the  war,  and  at  last  the  queen,  heartily  sick  of  the  quarrel, 
instructed  Sussex  to  end  it  by  reasonable  concessions,  and  peace 
was  signed  in  November,  1563,  on  terms  much  to  his  advantage. 
Among  other  things,  it  was  agreed  to  confirm  him  in  the  old  Irish 
name  of  "  The  O'Neill,"  "  until  the  queen  should  decorate  him 
by  another  honorable  name  " :  meaning,  no  doubt,  to  make  him 
an  earl.     After  this,  things  were  quiet  for  some  time. 

There  were  at  this  time  in  Antrim  great  numbers  of  Scottish 
settlers  from  the  western  coasts  and  islands  of  Scotland,  and  to 
these  Shane  now  turned  his  attention.  The  victory  he  gained  over 
them  at  first  caused  great  joy  to  the  English,  but  seeing  how  much 
it  increased  his  power,  their  joy  soon  turned  to  jealousy  and  fear; 
and  they  sent  two  commissioners  to  have  an  interview  with  him ; 
to  whom  he  gave  very  little  satisfaction.  Finally  in  an  action,  con- 
sequent to  a  plundering  raid,  he  was  utterly  routed. 

He  lost  all  heart,  and  now  formed  the  insane  resolution  of 
placing  himself  at  the  mercy  of  the  Scots,  wdiose  undying  enmity  he 
had  earned  by  a  defeat  at  Glenshesk  two  years  before.  He  came 
to  their  camp  at  Cushendun  w^ith  only  fifty  followers,  trusting  to 
their  generosity,  but  was  massacred  with  all  his  followers. 

O'Neill's  rebellion  cost  the  government  a  sum  nearly  equal  to 
two  millions  of  our  present  money,  besides  the  cesses  laid  on  the 
country  and  the  damages  sustained  by  the  subjects.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  he  was  only  about  forty  years  of  age.  We  are  told  by 
several  English  historians  of  the  time  that  he  governed  his  princi- 
pality witli  great  strictness  and  justice. 

Perhaps  at  no  time  since  the  invasion  did  the  dissensions  of 
the  great  Anglo-Irish  lords  bring  more  misery  to  the  general  body 


TWO     REBELLIONS  89 

1565-1567 

of  the  people  than  at  the  present  period.  The  Fitzgeralds  and  the 
Butlers  were  perpetually  at  war,  with  no  authority  to  quell  them. 
The  Earl  of  Desmond,  head  of  the  southern  Geraldines,  was  a 
Catholic,  and  took  the  Irish  side;. the  Earl  of  Ormond,  leader  of  the 
Butlers,  had  conformed  to  the  Protestant  faith,  and  had  taken  the 
side  of  the  English  all  along.  By  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of 
these  two  earls,  as  well  as  by  their  never-ending  disputes,  large  dis- 
tricts in  the  south  were  devastated,  and  almost  depopulated.  At 
the  same  time  Connaught  was  in  a  state  almost  as  bad,  by  the  broils 
of  the  Earl  of  Clanrickard  and  his  sons  with  each  other,  and  with 
the  chiefs  all  round. 

At  last  the  deputy.  Sir  Henry  Sydney,  set  out  on  a  journey 
through  Connaught  and  Munster  to  make  peace;  and  having  wit- 
nessed the  miseries  of  the  country,  he  treated  those  he  considered 
delinquents  with  excessive  and  merciless  severity,  hanging  and  im- 
prisoning great  numbers.  The  farther  south  he  went  the  worse  he 
found  the  country.  Speaking  of  the  districts  of  Desmond  and 
Thomond,  he  states  that  whole  tracts,  once  cultivated,  lay  waste  and 
uninhabited;  the  ruins  of  burned  towns,  villages,  and  churches 
everywhere:  "  And  there  heard  I  the  lamentable  cries  and  doleful 
complaints  made  by  that  remnant  of  poor  people  which  are  yet  left, 
hardly  escaping  sword  and  fire,  or  the  famine.  ,  .  .  Yea,  the 
view  of  the  bones  and  skulls  of  dead  subjects,  who  partly  by  murder, 
partly  by  famine,  have  died  in  the  fields,  as  in  truth  hardly  any 
Christian  with  dry  eyes  could  behold." 

Sydney  had  arrested  the  Earl  of  Desmond  and  left  his  brother 
John  to  continue  to  govern  South  Munster.  John  was  well  af- 
fected toward  the  government,  but  in  1567,  at  Ormond's  instiga- 
tion, he  was  seized  without  any  cause,  and  he  and  the  earl  were  sent 
to  London  and  consigned  to  the  Tower,  where  they  were  detained 
for  six  years.  All  this  was  done  without  the  knowledge  of  Sydney, 
who  afterward  quite  disapproved  of  it ;  and  it  made  great  mischief, 
for  it  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  rebellion,  and  it  changed  John 
Fitzgerald  from  a  loyal  man  to  a  bitter  rebel. 

The  rumors  of  English  colonization  and  of  attempts  to  force 
the  adoption  of  Reformation  doctrines  stirred  up  matters  until 
they  were  brought  to  a  crisis  by  the  arrest  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond 
and  John  Fitzgerald.  James  Fitzmaurice  Fitzgerald,  the  earl's 
first  cousin,  now  went  among  the  southern  chiefs,  and  induced  them 
all,  both  native  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish,  to  unite  in  defense  of  their 


90  IRELAND 

1567-1580 

religion  and  their  lands,  and  thus  was  formed  the  Second  Geraldine 
League.  For  six  years  Sydney  prevented  the  rebelHon,  and  Fitz- 
maurice  fled  to  France.  But  in  1579  he  returned  with  three  ships, 
which  he  had  procured  in  Spain,  accompanied  by  about  eighty 
Spaniards. 

An  uncalled-for  horrible  murder  of  two  high  English  author- 
ities by  John  Fitzgerald,  the  defeat  of  the  invading  force,  and  the 
adherence  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond  to  the  rebels,  were  the  opening 
features  of  the  rebellion.  The  frightful  civil  war  broke  out  now 
more  ruthlessly  than  before,  and  brought  the  country  to  such  a 
state  as  had  never  yet  been  witnessed.  At  Christmas,  Desmond 
utterly  ruined  the  rich  and  prosperous  town  of  Youghal,  which  be- 
longed to  the  party  of  his  opponents ;  the  government  commanders, 
Pelham  and  Ormond,  carried  fire  and  sword  through  the  country; 
and  Pelham  himself  tells  us  that  every  day,  in  their  marches,  they 
hunted  the  peasantry  fleeing  with  their  families  through  the  woods, 
and  killed  them  by  hundreds.  For  the  rebels  it  was  a  losing  game 
all  through. 

While  Pelham  and  Ormond  still  continued  to  traverse  Muns- 
ter,  burning,  destroying,  and  slaying,  from  Limerick  to  the  remote 
extremities  of  the  Kerry  peninsulas,  the  insurrection  suddenly 
blazed  up  in  Leinster.  About  two  years  before  this,  Sir  Henry 
Sydney,  the  lord  deputy,  had  excited  great  discontent  and  violent 
commotion  among  the  loyalist  people  of  the  Pale  by  imposing  on 
them  an  oppressive  tax  without  consulting  the  Irish  parliament,  a 
proceeding  which  was  quite  illegal;  and  partly  for  this  reason,  and 
])artly  on  account  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  government  to  force 
the  Reformation,  one  of  the  principal  men  and  his  people  rose  up  in 
open  rebellion.  Lord  Grey  of  Wilton  was  appointed  lord  justice, 
but  he  was  a  bad  general,  and  his  army  was  almost  annihilated  in 
his  first  battle. 

The  insurgents  had  long  expected  aid  from  the  Continent,  and 
a  small  force  at  length  arrived;  700  Spaniards  and  Italians  landed 
about  the  first  of  October,  1580,  from  four  vessels  at  Smerwick  in 
Kerry.  After  about  six  weeks  spent  in  collecting  forces,  Lord 
Grey,  burning  with  rage  after  his  defeat,  laid  siege  to  the  fort,  and 
battered  it  with  cannon  till  the  garrison  was  forced  to  surrender. 
The  Irish  authorities  assert  that  they  had  promise  of  their  lives; 
the  English  say  they  surrendered  at  discretion.  At  any  rate,  as 
soon  as  they  had   delivered  up  their  arms,   Grey  had   the  whole 


TWO     REBELLIONS  91 

1580-1581 

garrison  put  to  death.  Grey  now  had  a  hard  road  to  travel,  and 
the  relentless  barbarity  of  the  struggle  being  neither  to  his  taste 
nor  the  queen's,  his  recall  in  1582  was  satisfactory  to  both. 

Things  had  come  to  a  hopeless  pass  with  the  rebels.  And 
now  the  great  Earl  of  Desmond,  the  master  of  almost  an  entire 
province,  the  inheritor  of  vast  estates,  and  the  owner  of  numerous 
castles,  was  become  a  homeless  outlaw  with  a  price  on  his  head, 
dogged  by  spies  everywhere,  and  hunted  from  one  hiding  place  to 
another.  Through  all  his  weary  wanderings  he  was  accompanied 
by  his  faithful  wife.  At  length,  in  1583,  he  was  taken  and  killed 
by  some  soldiers  and  peasants  in  Kerry,  which  ended  the  great 
Geraldine  rebellion. 

The  war  had  made  Munster  a  desert.  In  the  words  of  the 
Four  Masters :  "  The  lowing  of  a  cow  or  the  voice  of  a  plowman 
could  scarcely  be  heard  from  Dunqueen  in  the  west  of  Kerry  to 
Cashel."  To  what  a  frightful  pass  the  wretched  people  had  been 
brought  may  be  gathered  from  Edmund  Spencer's  description  of 
what  he  witnessed  with  his  own  eyes :  "  Notwithstanding  that  the 
same  [province  of  Munster]  was  a  most  rich  and  plentiful  countrey, 
full  of  corne  and  cattle,  yet  ere  one  yeare  and  a  halfe  the  people 
were  brought  to  such  wretchedness  as  that  any  stony  hart  would 
have  rued  the  same.  Out  of  every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glynnes 
they  came  creeping  forth  upon  their  hands,  for  their  legges  could 
not  beare  them,  and  if  they  found  a  plot  of  watercresses  or  sham- 
rocks there  they  flocked  as  to  a  feast  for  the  time :  that  in  short 
space  of  time  there  were  almost  no  people  left,  and  a  most  populous 
and  plentiful!  country  suddainely  left  voide  of  man  and  beast." 

Before  proceeding  further  with  our  regular  narrative,  it  is 
necessary  that  we  here  turn  back  a  little  in  point  of  time,  in  order 
to  trace  the  history  of  the  Plantations,  and  to  describe  what  they 
were  and  how  they  were  carried  out.  In  the  time  of  Queen  Mary 
an  entire  change  was  made  in  the  mode  of  dealing  with  Irish  ter- 
ritories whose  chiefs  had  been  subdued.  Hitherto  whenever  the 
government  deposed  or  banished  a  troublesome  Irish  chief  they  con- 
tented themselves  with  putting  in  his  place  another,  commonly 
English  or  Anglo-Irish,  more  likely  to  be  submissive,  while  the 
general  body  of  occupiers  remained  undisturbed.  But  now  when 
a  rebellious  chief  was  reduced,  the  lands,  not  merely  those  in  his 
own  possession,  but  also  those  belonging  to  the  whole  of  the  people 
over  whom  lie  ruled,  were  confiscp.ted,  that  is,  seized  by  the  Crown, 


92  IRELAND 

1547-1581 

and  given  to  English  adventurers — undertakers,  as  they  were  com- 
monly called.  These  men  got  the  lands  on  condition  that  they 
should  bring  over  and  plant  on  them  a  number  of  English  or  Scotch 
settlers,  for  whom  it  was  of  course  necessary  to  clear  off  the  native 
population.  What  became  of  the  doomed  people  no  one  cared. 
Some  went  away  quietly  and  faced  hardship  and  want.  But  others 
refused  to  give  up  their  homes,  and  then  there  was  fighting  and 
bloodshed. 

Our  first  example  of  this  kind  of  colonization  occurred  in  Leix 
and  Offaly  in  1 547.  These  two  districts  were,  in  the  first  instance, 
not  exactly  taken  possession  of  by  the  Crown,  but  given  directly  to 
an  Englishman  named  Francis  Bryan  and  to  some  others,  who 
proceeded  straightway  to  expel  the  native  people  and  parcel  out 
the  lands  to  new  tenants,  chiefly  English.  But  the  poor  people 
clung  to  their  homes  and  struggled  hard  to  retain  them.  The 
fighting  went  on  during  the  whole  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
with  great  loss  of  life  to  both  sides;  and  the  settlement,  exposed 
to  the  constant  vengeful  attacks  of  those  who  had  been  dispossessed, 
decayed  year  by  year. 

As  this  attempt  at  plantation  did  not  succeed,  the  whole  dis- 
trict was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Crown  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  and  replanted.  The  natives  still  resisted,  but  they  had  now 
the  full  strength  of  the  government  forces  to  contend  with,  and 
a  pitiless  war  of  extermination  went  on  for  many  years,  till  the 
original  owners  and  peasantry  were  as  a  body  almost  completely 
banished  or  extirpated.  But  this  settlement  never  succeeded,  and 
the  natives  gradually  crept  back  till  in  course  of  time  they  in  great 
measure  absorbed  the  settlers,  as  happened  in  older  times. 

After  the  death  of  Shane  O'Neill,  in  1567,  more  than  half  of 
Ulster  was  confiscated,  and  the  attempt  to  clear  off  the  old  natives 
and  plant  new  settlers  was  commenced  without  delay.  An  attempt 
in  1 570-1 573  was  a  failure,  but  the  next  undertaker  was  a  more 
important  man,  Walter  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex.  In  1573  he  un- 
dertook to  plant  the  district  now  occupied  by  the  county  Antrim, 
togetlier  witli  the  island  of  Rathlin.  He  waged  savage  war  on  the 
natives,  killing,  burning,  and  depopulating.  He  hunted  down  and 
massacred  without  distinction  men,  women,  and  children,  to  gain 
possession  of  their  lands.  Yet  after  all  this  fearful  work  he  failed 
in  the  end,  and  returned  to  Dublin,  where  he  died. 

On  the  suppression  of  the  Geraldine  Rebellion  the  vast  estates 


TWO     REBELLIONS  93 

1581-1585 

of  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  and  those  of  140  of  the  leading-  gentlemen 
of  Munster,  his  adherents,  were  confiscated  by  a  parliament  held 
in  Dublin  in  1585.  In  the  following  year  proclamation  was  made 
all  through  England,  inviting  gentlemen  to  "  undertake  "  the  planta- 
tion of  this  great  and  rich  territory.  Estates  were  offered  at  two 
pence  or  three  pence  an  acre,  and  no  rent  at  all  was  to  be  paid  for 
the  first  five  years.  Every  undertaker  who  took  12,000  acres  was 
to  settle  eighty-six  English  families  as  tenants  on  his  property,  but 
no  Irish,  and  so  in  proportion  for  smaller  estates  down  to  4000 
acres. 

Many  of  the  great  undertakers  were  absentees — English  noble- 
men who  never  saw  Ireland.  Of  those  who  came  over  to  settle 
down  on  their  estates  two  are  well  known.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
got  42,000  acres  in  Cork  and  Waterford,  and  resided  in  Youghal, 
where  his  house  is  still  to  be  seen.  Edmund  Spenser,  the  poet, 
received  12,000  acres  in  Cork,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  one  of 
Desmond's  strongholds,  Kilcolman  Castle,  the  ruin  of  which,  near 
Buttevant,  is  still  an  object  of  interest  to  visitors. 

In  the  most  important  particulars,  however,  this  great  scheme 
turned  out  a  failure.  The  English  farmers  and  artisans  did  not 
come  over  in  sufficient  numbers,  and  the  undertakers  received  the 
native  Irish  everywhere  as  tenants,  in  violation  of  the  conditions. 
Some  English  came  over  indeed,  but  they  were  so  harrassed  and 
frightened  by  the  continual  onslaughts  of  the  dispossessed  proprie- 
tors and  tenants  that  many  of  them  returned  to  England,  And  lastly, 
more  than  half  the  confiscated  estates  remained  in  possession  of  the 
original  owners,  as  no  others  could  be  found  to  take  them.  So  the 
only  result  of  this  plantation  was  to  root  out  a  large  proportion  of 
the  old  gentry  and  to  enrich  a  few  undertakers. 

There  were  many  otlier  Plantations  during  these  times  and 
subsequently,  some  of  which  will  be  described  farther  on ;  but  all 
of  them  resembled,  in  their  main  features,  those  sketched  here. 
From  beginning  to  end  they  were  the  cause  of  frightful  bloodslied 
and  misery  to  both  natives  and  settlers,  and  they  left  to  posterity 
a  disastrous  legacy  of  hatred  and  strife. 


Chapter    XVII 

THE    REBELLION    OF    HUGH    O'NEILL.     1584-1597 

JOHN  PERROTT,  a  brave,  bluff  old  soldier,  was  lord  deputy 
from  1584  to  1588.  He  treated  the  Irish  with  some  considera- 
tion. At  the  time  of  the  Armada  he  secured  hostages  from 
most  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  but  none  from  the  O'Donnells,  whom  he 
feared  most  of  all.  Young  Hugh  O'Donnell,  even  at  fifteen,  was 
remarked  for  his  great  abilities  and  for  his  aspiring  and  ambitious 
disposition.  "  The  fame  and  renown  of  the  above-named  youth, 
Hugh  Roe,"  say  the  Four  Masters,  "  had  spread  throughout  the 
five  provinces  of  Ireland  even  before  he  had  come  to  the  age  of 
manhood,  for  his  wisdom,  sagacity,  goodly  growth,  and  noble  deeds ; 
and  the  English  feared  that  if  he  should  be  permitted  to  arrive  at 
the  age  of  manhood,  he  and  the  Earl  of  Tyrone  [Hugh  O'Neill  his 
brother-in-law]  might  combine  and  conquer  the  whole  island." 

By  a  cleverly  constructed  and  well  executed  trick  Perrott 
seized  young  Hugh  and  brought  him  to  Dublin.  This  dishonorable 
and  unwise  transaction,  however,  so  far  from  tending  to  peace, 
as  Perrott  no  doubt  intended,  did  the  very  reverse.  It  made  bitter 
enemies  of  the  O'Donnells,  who  had  been  hitherto  for  generations 
on  the  side  of  the  government.  In  young  O'Donnell  himself  more 
especially  it  engendered  lifelong  feelings  of  exasperation  and  hatred, 
and  it  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  O'Neill  rebellion,  which  brought 
unmeasured  woe  and  disaster  to  both  English  and  Irish. 

Three  years  and  three  months  passed  away ;  Perrott  had  been 
recalled,  and  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam  was  now  lord  deputy,  when 
O'Donnell,  in  concert  with  some  of  his  fellow-prisoners,  made  an 
attempt  to  escape.  They  had  a  day's  start,  but  O'Donnell's  strength 
gave  out,  and  the  next  day  the  guards  from  the  Castle  tracked  him 
and  he  was  recaptured.  At  the  end  of  the  next  year  O'Donnell  and 
the  two  sons  of  Shane  O'Neill  made  their  escape,  but  it  was  ex- 
tremely bad  weather,  and  Henry  O'Neill  was  lost,  and  Art  O'Neill 
died  a.s  a  result  of  the  exposure.  O'Donnell  passed  from  place  to 
place  despite  the  vigilance  of  the  guards  until  he  arrived  at  his 

9* 


REBELLION     OF     O'NEILL  95 

1592-1597 

father's  castle  at  Ballyshannon,  where  he  was  welcomed  with  un- 
bounded joy.  Here  he  remained  under  cure  for  two  months.  The 
physicians  had  at  last  to  amputate  his  two  great  toes,  and  a  whole 
year  passed  away  before  he  had  fully  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  that  one  terrible  winter  night  in  the  mountains. 

In  May  this  year,  1592,  a  general  meeting  of  the  Kinel-Connell 
was  convened,  and  Sir  Hugh  O'Donnell,  who  was  old  and  feeble, 
having  resigned  the  chieftainship,  young  Hugh  Roe — now  in  his 
twentieth  year — was  elected  The  O'Donnell,  chief  of  his  race. 

Among  those  who  had  aided  O'Donnell  was  Hugh  O'Neill, 
son  of  the  Matthew  whom  the  English  had  favored  against  Shane, 
and  grandson  of  Conn,  the  first  Earl  of  Tyrone.  His  aid  had  been 
given  in  secret,  for  he  was  still  in  the  service  of  the  English,  and 
for  some  years  yet  was  well  treated  by  them  and  well  disposed 
toward  them. 

Suspicion  gradually  arose  on  both  sides;  the  opposition  to 
The  O'Neill's  marriage,  the  warlike  preparations,  and  the  uncer- 
tainty as  to  which  side  the  earl  had  favored  at  a  battle  at  Enniskil- 
lern,  brought  them  forth.  The  friendly  relations  between  the  earl 
and  the  government  may  be  said  to  have  ended  with  the  close  of  the 
year  1594.  Up  to  this  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  any  intention 
of  rebelling;  for  though  maintaining  his  rights,  he  endeavored  to 
avoid  displeasing  the  authorities.  But  he  was  continually  harassed 
by  the  untiring  enmity  of  Marshal  Bagenal,  who  intercepted  many 
of  his  letters  of  submission  and  explanation  to  the  deputy,  and  this 
and  his  determination  to  regain  all  the  ancestral  power  of  his  fam- 
ily in  Ulster  gradually  drew  him  into  rebellion. 

The  signal  for  the  outbreak  was  the  sending  of  3000  troops 
as  reinforcements  to  the  English,  in  1595.  O'Neill  seized  several 
places  and  won  a  pitched  battle.  There  were  next  many  negotia- 
tions and  conferences,  in  which  O'Neill  always  insisted,  among 
other  conditions,  that  the  Catholics  should  have  full  liberty  to 
practice  their  religion,  but  this  was  persistently  refused,  and  the 
war  still  went  on.  Nevertheless  the  queen  was  anxious  for  peace, 
and  she  was  greatly  exasperated  when  she  heard  of  the  cruelties  of 
Sir  Richard  Bingham,  president  of  Connaught,  who  had  driven 
nearly  all  the  cliiefs  of  that  province  into  rebellion.  She  removed 
him  in  January,  1597,  and  sent  in  his  place  Sir  Conyers  Clifford, 
a  just  and  humane  man. 

A  few  months  afterward  Thomas,  Lord  Borough  was  appointed 


96  IRELAND 

1597-1598 

lord  deputy,  and  made  preparation  for  a  combined  attack  on  Ulster 
with  three  different  forces.  The  Irish  were  successful  against  all 
three  parties.  O'Neill  defeated  the  deputy;  O'Donnell  drove  back 
Clifford,  and  the  third  party  was  exterminated. 

Portmore  had  been  the  chief  objective  of  the  fighting.  It  was 
the  first  place  seized  by  O'Neill,  its  recapture  attempted  by  Norris, 
and  finally  effected  by  the  deputy,  though  he  himself  was  defeated. 
It  was  now  occupied  by  Captain  Williams  and  his  garrison  of 
three  hundred.  O'Neill  tried  every  strategem  to  recapture  it;  but 
the  vigilance  and  determination  of  Williams  completely  baffled 
him.  Failing  in  an  attempt  to  storm,  he  laid  siege,  and  the  garri- 
son began  to  be  sorely  pressed  by  hunger. 

When  the  tidings  of  these  events  reached  Dublin,  the  council 
sat  in  long  and  anxious  deliberation,  and  at  first  decided  to  order 
Williams  to  surrender,  but  Marshal  Bagenal  arriving  at  this  mo- 
ment, persuaded  them  to  intrust  him  with  the  perilous  task  of 
relieving  the  fort.  O'Neill  had  marshaled  his  forces  near  the  Yel- 
low Ford,  on  the  little  river  Callan,  and  determined  to  dispute  the 
passage.  He  had  with  him  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  Maguire,  and 
Tslac  Donnell  of  the  Glens  of  Antrim,  all  leaders  of  ability  and  ex- 
perience. At  intervals  along  the  way  he  had  dug  deep  holes  and 
trenches,  and  had  otherwise  encumbered  the  line  of  march  with 
felled  trees  and  brushwood ;  and  right  in  front  of  his  main  body 
extended  a  very  difficult  trench. 

Bagenal  was  not  a  man  easily  daunted,  and  on  the  morning  of 
August  14,  1598,  he  began  his  march  with  music  and  drum.  The 
army  advanced  in  six  regiments,  forming  three  divisions.  O'Neill 
had  sent  500  men  forw^ard  the  night  before,  who  harassed  the 
English  before  they  reached  the  trench.  The  first  regiment  got 
across,  but  the  others  were  too  far  separated,  and  the  men  of  the 
vanguard  were  almost  all  killed  before  the  second  regiment  could 
come  up.  At  the  head  of  this  regiment  was  the  Marshal  Bagenal, 
who  was  shot  and  killed.  The  third  regiment  was  now  over- 
whelmed, and  a  force  of  the  Irish  which  attacked  the  rear  sent  the 
last  two  regiments  in  disorder  back  to  Armagh.  An  explosion  of 
gunpowder  in  the  fourth  regiment  put  everything  in  confusion, 
whereupon  O'Neill  made  a  charge,  and  the  rout  was  complete. 

The  Irish  pursued  them — as  the  Four  Masters  express  it — 
"  by  pairs,  threes,  scores,  and  thirties."  Two  thousand  of  the 
English  were  killed,  together  with  their  general  and  nearly  all  the 


REBELLION     OF     O'NEILL 


97 


1598 

officers,  and  the  victors  became  masters  of  the  artillery,  ammuni- 
tion, and  stores  of  the  royal  army.  On  the  Irish  side  the  loss  is 
variously  estimated  from  200  to  700.  This  was  the  greatest  over- 
throw the  English  ever  suffered  since  they  had  first  set  foot  in 
Ireland. 

A  large  body  of  fugitives  shut  themselves  up  in  Armagh, 
where  they  were  closely  invested  by  the  Irish.  But  Montague, 
with  a  company  of  horse,  most  courageously  forced  his  way  out 
and  brought  the  evil  tidings  to  Dublin.    In  a  few  days  the  garrisons 


cDonneU ,  Maouirt 
en/—,,-.     '"^  i 


OQcd 


MocDonnell. 


^f' 

■■■■ 

« 

II  \ 

O'Neill 

II 

y^ 

Armagh 


of  Armagh  and  Portmore  capitulated — the  valiant  Captain  Williams 
yielding  only  after  a  most  pressing  message  from  Armagh — and 
were  permitted  to  retire  to  Dundalk,  leaving  colors,  drums,  and 
ammunition  behind. 

When  the  southern  chiefs  heard  of  O'Neill's  great  victory,  the 
Munster  rebellion  broke  out  like  lightning.  The  confederates, 
including  the  Geraldines,  attacked  the  settlements  to  regain  the 
lands  that  had  been  taken  from  them  a  dozen  years  before;  they 
expelled  the  settlers,  and  before  long  they  had  recovered  all  Des- 
mond's castles.  The  lord  lieutenant  and  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  presi- 
dent of  Munster,  were  quite  unable  to  cope  with  the  rebellion,  and 
left  Munster  to  the  rebels. 


98  IRELAND 

1598-1600 

The  queen  was  greatly  exasperated  when  news  reached  her 
of  the  battle  of  the  Yellow  Ford;  and  she  wrote  to  the  Dublin 
Council,  censuring  them  bitterly,  and  expressing  her  belief  that  this 
catastrophe,  and  many  others,  were  owing  to  their  incapacity  and 
mismanagement.  At  this  grave  juncture  she  appointed,  as  lord 
lieutenant,  Robert  Devereux,  second  Earl  of  Essex,  son  of  Essex 
of  the  Plantations.  He  brought  an  army  of  20,000  men,  and  the 
queen  invested  him  with  almost  as  much  power  as  if  she  had  made 
him  king  of  Ireland,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  distinct  instruc- 
tions to  direct  all  his  strength  against  the  Earl  of  Tyrone  and  the 
other  rebels  of  Ulster,  and  to  plant  garrisons  at  Lough  Foyle  and 
Ballyshannon.  Though  he  was  a  brave  and  distinguished  soldier, 
he  did  not  understand  how  to  carry  on  war  in  Ireland,  and  mis- 
managed the  whole  campaign.  He  delayed  proceeding  against 
Tyrone,  and  he  neglected  altogether  the  order  for  planting  gar- 
risons. He  scattered  his  army,  made  a  disastrous  march  to  the 
south,  and  failed  in  the  west. 

Essex's  fine  army  melted  away  in  a  few  months,  and  at  his 
own  request  he  now  got  2000  more  from  the  queen,  who,  however, 
was  very  indignant  against  him,  and  wrote  him  a  bitter  letter  com- 
manding him  to  proceed  at  once  against  O'Neill.  In  August,  1599, 
he  set  out  at  last  for  the  north,  with  only  2500  men,  but  he  found 
the  insurgent  earl  so  strongly  intrenched  in  his  camp  on  a  high 
bank  over  the  little  river  Lagan,  about  halfway  between  Carrick- 
macross  and  Ardee,  that  he  did  not  dare  to  attack  him.  O'Neill 
now  requested  a  conference,  which  was  granted.  Early  on  a  morn- 
ing in  September,  the  two  leaders  rode  down  unattended,  from  the 
heights  on  either  side  of  the  river.  O'Neill  saluted  the  earl  with 
great  respect,  and  spurring  his  horse  into  the  stream,  to  be  near 
enough  to  hold  converse,  he  remained  there  up  to  his  saddle-girths 
during  the  whole  conference,  while  he  laid  down  the  conditions  he 
demanded.  A  truce  was  agreed  on.  but  nothing  ever  came  of  this 
conference,  for,  immediately  afterward,  Essex  suddenly  sailed  for 
England.  The  remainder  of  his  short  career,  ending  on  the  block, 
belongs  to  the  history  of  England. 

F'or  some  time  after  the  departure  of  Essex  there  were  nego- 
tiations for  peace,  but  they  were  all  rendered  fruitless  by  the  refusal 
of  the  queen  and  government  on  the  one  vital  point  of  freedom  of 
religious  worship,  which  O'Neill  always  insisted  on.  He  visited 
Munster  in  January,  1600,  and  encamped  with  his  army  at  Inish- 


REBELLION     OF     O'NEILL  99 

1600 

carra  on  the  Lee,  six  miles  above  Cork,  where  most  of  the  Southern 
chiefs  visited  him  and  acknowledged  him  as  their  leader. 

For  the  last  two  years  victory  and  success  had  attended  the 
Irish  alrmost  without  interruption,  and  Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Ty- 
rone, had  now  attained  the  very  summit  of  his  power.  But  after 
this  the  tide  began  to  turn,  and  soon  came  the  day  of  defeat  and 
disaster. 


Chapter    XVIII 

THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE  EARLS  AND  DEATH  OF  O'NEILL 

1 600- 1 608 

CHARLES  BLOUNT,  Lord  Mountjoy,  a  man  of  great 
ability,  and  a  more  formidable  adversary  than  any  yet 
encountered  by  O'Neill,  was  the  person  chosen  by  the  queen 
to  succeed  Essex  as  governor.  He  came  to  Ireland  in  February 
of  1600,  and  as  soon  as  O'Neill  heard  of  his  arrival  he  returned  to 
Ulster.  Along  with  Mountjoy  came  Sir  George  Carew  as  presi- 
dent of  Munster,  a  man  quite  as  able  and  courageous,  but  crafty 
and  avaricious,  and  with  an  intense  hatred  for  the  Irish. 

Carew  directed  all  his  energies  against  the  Munster  rebels, 
capturing  their  castles  one  after  another,  and  he  caused  his  soldiers 
to  destroy  the  crops  wherever  he  went  in  order  to  produce  a  famine. 
The  famine  ultimately  came,  and  the  people — ^men,  women,  and 
children— perished  by  thousands  of  starvation. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  in  the  south,  O'Neill 
and  O'Donnell  were  kept  busy  in  the  north.  It  had  long  been  the 
intention  of  the  government  to  plant  garrisons  on  the  shores  of 
Lough  Foyle,  and  we  have  seen  how  Essex  had  neglected  the 
queen's  command  to  do  so.  Now  a  powerful  armament  of  4000 
foot  and  200  horse,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Henry  Docwra,  with 
abundance  of  stores  and  building  materials,  sailed  for  Lough  Foyle 
in  IMay ;  and  while  O'Neill's  attention  was  drawn  elsewhere,  several 
forts  were  built. 

Leinster  had  shared  in  the  O'Neill  rebellion,  and  Owney 
O'Moore,  the  chief  of  Leix,  had  succeeded  in  winning  back  most 
of  his  principality.  The  country  had  quite  recovered  from  the 
wars  of  the  Plantations,  nearly  half  a  century  before;  the  land 
was  well  cultivated  and  the  people  were  prosperous  and  contented. 
Moryson,  the  historian,  ]\Iountjoy's  secretary,  tells  us  that  the 
grcjund  was  well  tilled,  the  fields  fenced  in  an  orderly  manner,  the 
towns  well  inhabited,  the  highways  in  good  repair:  "The  reason 
wliereof,"  he  says,  "  was  that  the  queen's  forces  during  these  wars 
never  till  then  came  among  them."     But  now  all  this  was  to  be 


FLIGHT     OF     THE     EARLS  101 

1600-1601 

changed.  To  punish  them  for  their  part  in  the  rebellion  Mount- 
joy  set  out  in  August,  1600,  from  Dublin,  with  a  large  force,  and 
a  supply  of  sickles,  scythes,  and  harrows  to  tear  up  the  corn ;  and 
he  soon  destroyed  the  crops  of  the  whole  district,  after  which  he 
returned  to  Dublin,  leaving  the  people  to  despair  and  hunger,  their 
smiling  district  turned  to  a  black  ruin.  Soon  after  this  he  marched 
north  and  employed  himself  in  the  same  manner  till  he  had  de- 
stroyed the  people's  means  of  subsistence  over  a  large  part  of 
Ulster.  By  the  middle  of  1601  the  rebellion  may  be  said  to  have 
been  crushed  in  the  three  southern  provinces.  In  Ulster,  though 
O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  were  still  actively  engaged  in  defensive 
warfare,  they  had  become  greatly  circumscribed.  But  the  war  was 
now  fated  to  be  renewed  in  another  quarter  of  the  island. 

The  aid  which  the  Irish  chiefs  had  long  expected  from  Spain 
came  at  last.  On  September  2^,  1601,  a  Spanish  fleet  entered  the 
harbor  of  Kinsale  with  3400  troops  under  the  command  of 
Don  Juan  del  Aguila.  They  immediately  took  possession  of  the 
town:  and  Del  Aguila  dispatched  a  message  to  Ulster  to  O'Neill 
and  O'Donnell  to  come  south  without  delay.  An  express  mes- 
senger from  Cork  brought  the  news  to  Mount  joy  and  Carew,  who 
at  once  began  to  muster  their  forces,  and  at  the  end  of  three  weeks 
they  encamped  on  the  north  side  of  Kinsale  with  an  army  of  12,000 
men. 

On  the  receipt  of  Del  Aguila's  message,  the  northern  chiefs, 
though  urgently  needed  in  their  own  province,  made  a  hasty  prep- 
aration to  march  south.  O'Donnell  was  first.  The  English  at- 
tempted to  intercept  him,  and  as  he  did  not  wish  to  weaken  his 
force  by  fighting,  he  tried  to  evade  them.  Luckily  there  came  a 
sudden  and  intense  frost  on  the  night  of  November  22,  which 
hardened  up  bog  and  morass  and  made  them  passable.  The  Irish 
general,  instantly  taking  advantage  of  this,  set  out  that  night 
westward,  crossed  the  Slieve  Felim  Mountains  \vith  his  hardy 
Tirconnell  men,  and  reached  Croom  the  next  night  after  a  march 
of  forty  English  miles — "the  greatest  march  with  [incumbrance 
of]  carriage,"  says  Carew,  "  that  hath  been  heard  of." 

During  the  month  of  November  the  English  had  carried  on 
the  siege  vigorously,  but  after  O'Donnell's  arrival  things  began 
to  go  against  them,  for  they  were  hemmed  in  by  the  town  on  one 
side,  and  by  the  Irish  army  on  the  other,  so  that  they  were  now 
themselves  besieged.    They  were  threatened  with  famine,  for  hardly 


102  IRELAND 

1601-1602 

any  food  could  be  procured  for  either  men  or  horses,  and  the 
weather  was  so  inclement  that  they  lost  numbers  of  their  men  every 
day  by  cold  and  sickness. 

O'Neill  arrived  on  December  21  with  an  army  of  about 
4000.  He  saw  at  once  how  matters  stood,  and  his  counsel  was,  not 
to  attack  the  English,  but  to  let  their  army  melt  away,  for  already 
6000  of  them  had  perislied;  but  he  was  overruled  in  a  council  of 
war,  and  a  combined  attack  of  Irish  and  Spaniards  was  arranged 
for  the  night  of  January  3,  1602.  Meantime  an  Irish  traitor,  Brian 
Alac  Mahon,  sent  secret  information  of  the  intended  attack  to  the 
English. 

The  night  was  unusually  dark,  wet,  and  stormy;  the  guides 
lost  their  way,  and  Mountjoy  took  advantage  of  the  mistakes  of 
the  Irish.  These  and  the  failure  of  Del  Aguila  to  join  in  the  at- 
tack helped  lose  tlie  battle  of  Kinsale  to  the  Irish.  A  short  time 
after  the  battle  Del  Aguila  surrendered  the  town;  quite  needlessly, 
for  he  could  have  held  it  till  further  help  came,  both  from  O'Neill 
and  from  the  King  of  Spain;  and  having  agreed  also  to  give  up 
the  castles  of  Baltimore,  Castlehaven,  and  Dunboy,  which  were 
garrisoned  by  Spaniards,  he  returned  to  Spain.  He  was  justly 
blamed  by  King  Philip  III.  of  Spain,  and  on  his  arrival  he  was 
placed  under  arrest,  which  so  affected  him  that  he  died  of  grief. 

On  the  night  after  the  fatal  day  of  Kinsale,  the  Irish  chiefs 
retired  with  their  broken  army  to  Innishannon.  Here  they  held  a 
sad  council,  in  which  it  was  resolved  to  send  O'Donnell  to  Spain 
for  further  help.  He  went  and  was  cordially  received,  but  died 
there,  September  10,  1602,  his  bodily  ailment  intensified  by  the 
news  of  Ireland's  losses. 

The  Irish  chiefs  were  incensed  at  Del  Aquila's  easy  surrender. 
Kinsale  was  gone,  but  they  resolved  to  hold  the  castles.  In  Feb- 
ruan^  a  purely  Irish  force  of  143  men  was  thrown  into  Dunboy 
and  preparation  made  for  a  siege.  Carew  set  out  on  his  march 
from  Cork  with  3000  men  to  la}-  siege  to  the  castle,  sending  round 
his  ships  with  ordnance  and  stores.  The  devoted  little  garrison  never 
flinched  at  sight  of  the  powerful  armament  of  4000  men,  and  only 
exerted  themselves  all  the  more  resolutely  to  strengthen  their 
position. 

And  now  the  siege  was  begun  and  carried  on  with  great 
vigr)r,  and  day  after  day  the  ordnance  thundered  against  the 
walls     On  June  17  the  castle  was  so  shattered  that  Mac  Geoghegan 


FLIGHT     OF     THE     EARLS  103 

1601 

sent  to  Carew  offering  to  surrender,  on  condition  of  being  allowed 
to  march  out  with  arms,  but  Carew's  only  answer  was  to  hang 
the  messenger  and  to  give  orders  for  a  final  assault.  The  storming 
party  were  resisted  with  desperation,  and  many  were  killed  on  both 
sides.  The  defenders  were  driven  in  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  to  the 
eastern  wing,  where  they  met  a  party  which  had  made  its  way 
in  by  a  back  passage.  A  desperate  rush  for  the  sea  by  forty  de- 
fenders resulted  in  their  being  cut  down.  By  night  the  Irish, 
now  only  seventy-seven,  retired  to  the  cellars,  and  the  besiegers 
withdrew  until  the  next  day. 

The  next  morning  the  cannon  battered  the  cellars  into  ruins 
until  a  surrender  was  forced,  Mac  Geoghegan,  who  was  himself 
dying,  attempted  to  blow  up  the  castle,  but  was  caught  and  killed. 

It  is  chiefly  from  Carew  himself  that  this  account  of  the  siege 
is  taken,  and  he  concludes  by  saying  that  of  the  43  defenders  of 
Dunboy  "  no  one  man  escaped  but  were  either  slaine,  executed,  or 
buried  in  the  ruins;  and  so  obstinate  and  resolved  a  defence  had 
not  been  scene  within  this  kingdom."  The  powder  that  was  in  the 
vaults  was  heaped  together  and  ignited ;  and  all  that  remained  of 
Dunboy  was  blown  into  fragments,  except  two  parallel  side  walls 
which  are  still  standing. 

After  the  capture  of  Dunboy,  Donall  O'Sullivan,  the  lord  of 
Beare  and  Bantry,  was  left  without  possessions.  He  still,  how- 
ever, kept  up  the  struggle  resolutely  until  toward  the  end  of  the 
year  1602,  when  ill  news  came  from  Spain — that  O'Donnell  was 
dead,  and  that  King  Philip,  on  hearing  of  the  fall  of  Dunboy, 
had  countermanded  the  intended  expedition.  Finding  that  he 
could  no  longer  maintain  himself  and  his  followers  where  he  was, 
he  resolved  to  bid  farewell  to  the  land  of  his  inheritance  and  seek 
a  refuge  in  Ulster.  On  the  last  day  of  the  year  1602  he  set  out 
from  Glengarriff  on  his  memorable  retreat,  with  400  fighting  men, 
and  600  women,  children,  and  servants.  The  march  was  one  un- 
broken scene  of  conflict  and  hardship.  They  were  everywhere 
confronted  or  pursued  by  enemies,  who  attacked  them  when  they 
dared,  and  they  suffered  continually  from  fatigue,  cold,  and  hun- 
ger. "  O'Sullivan  was  not  a  day  or  night  during  this  period,'' 
say  the  Four  blasters.  "  without  a  battle,  or  being  vehemently  or 
vindictively  pursued,  all  which  he  sustained  and  responded  to  with 
manliness  and  vigor."' 

They  fled  in  such  haste  that  they  were  short  of  provisions. 


104  IRELAND 

1602 

and  the  people,  also,  were  too  much  terrified  by  Carew's  threats  to 
give  them  help  or  shelter,  so  they  were  forced  to  seize  or  starve. 
This  explains  much  of  the  hostility  they  encountered,  for  no  man 
will  permit  his  substance  to  be  taken  without  resistance.  Scarce 
a  day  passed  without  loss,  some  fell  behind  or  left  the  ranks  over- 
come with  weariness;  some  sank  and  died  under  accumulated 
hardships,  and  others  were  killed  in  fight.  At  first  they  made 
tents  at  night,  but  later  lay  under  the  open  sky,  and  suffered 
severely.  While  one  detachment  of  the  fighting  men  collected  pro- 
visions, the  others  remained  with  the  main  body  to  protect  the 
women  and  children,  and  the  whole  party  were  preserved  from 
utter  destruction  only  by  the  strict  discipline  maintained  by  the 
chief. 

O'Sullivan's  wife,  who  accompanied  the  party,  carried  and 
nursed  so  far,  through  all  her  hardships,  her  little  boy,  a  baby  two 
years  old,  but  now  she  had  to  part  with  him.  She  intrusted  him 
to  the  care  of  one  of  her  faithful  dependents,  who  preserved  and 
reared  him  up  tenderly,  and  afterward  sent  him  to  Spain  to  the 
parents. 

The  ninth  day  of  their  weary  journey  found  them  beside  the 
Shannon,  near  Portland,  in  the  north  of  Tipperary,  and  here  they 
rested  for  two  nights.  But  their  enemies  began  to  close  in  on  them 
from  the  Tipperary  side,  and  as  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  they 
prepared  to  cross  the  broad  river  opposite  the  castle  of  Kiltaroc 
or  Redwood.  To  do  this  they  built  currachs,  or  hide  boats.  But 
nothing  better  awaited  them  on  the  other  side  of  the  Shannon. 
Pushing  on  northward  through  O'Kelly's  country,  they  had  to 
defend  themselves  in  skirmish  after  skirmish.  As  most  of  the 
horses  had  by  this  time  quite  broken  down,  O'Sullivan  had  to 
abandon  the  wounded  to  their  certain  fate,  and  their  despairing 
cries  rang  painfully  in  the  ears  of  the  flying  multitude.  Sometimes 
when  they  came  near  a  village,  a  party  were  dispatched  for  pro- 
visions, who  entered  the  houses  and  seized  everything  in  the  shape 
of  food  tliey  could  lay  hands  on,  satisfying  their  ovv'n  hunger  while 
tliey  searched,  and  bringing  all  they  could  gather  to  their  starving 
companions.  At  Aughrim  Captain  Malbie  was  defeated  by  the 
desperate  fugitives.  In  the  territory  of  Mac  David  Burke,  they 
were  UKjre  harrassed,  and  pressed  on  in  hope  of  refuge.  For  days 
past  tliey  had  undergone  unspeakable  sufferings.  The  weather 
was  inclement,  snow  falling  lieavily,  so  that  they  had  sometimes 


FLIGHT    OF     THE    EARLS  106 

1602 

to  make  their  way  through  deep  drifts;  and  many  of  those  who 
continued  able  to  walk  had  to  carry  some  of  their  companions  who 
were  overcome  by  fatigue  and  sickness. 

Their  hope  all  through  had  been  to  reach  the  territory  of 
O'Rourke,  Prince  of  Brefni,  and  next  morning  when  the  sun  rose 
over  Knockvicar,  their  guide  pointed  out  to  them,  only  five  miles 
off,  the  towers  of  one  of  O'Rourke's  residences,  Leitrim  or  Brefni 
Castle.  At  eleven  o'clock  that  same  day  they  entered  the  hospitable 
mansion,  where  a  kind  welcome  awaited  them.  They  had  set  out 
from  Glengarriff  a  fortnight  before,  one  thousand  in  number,  and 
that  morning  only  thirty-five  entered  O'Rourke's  castle.  A  few 
others  afterward  arrived  in  twos  and  threes ;  all  the  rest  had  either 
perished  or  dropped  behind  from  fatigue,  sickness,  or  wounds. 

How  it  fared  with  South  Munster  after  the  capture  of  Dun- 
boy  may  be  told  in  a  few  words.  Though  the  province  was  now 
quiet  enough,  yet  several  of  the  rebels  were  still  at  large,  and 
there  were  rumors  of  other  intended  risings.  Against  these  dangers 
Carew  took  precautions  of  a  very  decided  character;  he  had  the 
country  turned  into  a  desert :  "  Hereupon,"  says  Carew,  "  Sir 
Charles  Wilmot  with  the  English  regiments  overran  all  Beare  and 
Bantry,  destroying  all  that  they  could  find  meet  for  the  reliefe  of 
men,  so  as  that  country  was  wholly  wasted.  .  .  .  The  presi- 
dent therefore  [i.  e.,  Carew  himself],  as  well  to  debarre  those 
straglers  from  releefe  as  to  prevent  all  means  of  succours  to  Osule- 
van  if  hee  should  returne  with  new  forces,  caused  all  the  county 
of  Kerry  and  Desmond,  Beare,  Bantry,  and  Carbery  to  be  left 
absolutely  wasted,  constrayning  all  the  Inhabitants  thereof  to  with- 
draw their  Cattle  into  the  East  and  Northern  parts  of  the  County 
of  Corke." 

During  the  whole  of  the  interval  from  the  autumn  of  1600  to 
the  end  of  1602  the  work  of  destroying  crops,  cattle,  and  home- 
steads was  busily  carried  on  by  Mountjoy  and  Carew,  and  by  the 
governors  of  the  garrisons,  who  wasted  everything  and  made 
deserts  for  miles  round  the  towns  where  they  were  stationed.  We 
have  already  seen  how  thoroughly  this  was  done  in  Alunster  and 
Leinster;  it  was  now  the  turn  of  Ulster.  In  June,  1602,  Alount- 
joy  marched  north  to  prosecute  the  war  against  the  rebels,  and 
remained  in  Ulster  during  the  autumn  and  winter,  traversing  the 
country  in  all  directions,  and  destroying  the  poor  people's  means 
of  subsistence. 


106  IRELAND 

1602-1603 

And  now  the  famine,  so  deliberately  planned,  swept  throug'h 
the  whole  country,  and  Ulster  was,  if  possible,  in  a  worse  condi- 
tion than  Munster.  For  the  ghastly  results  of  the  deputy's  cruel 
policy  we  have  his  own  testimony,  as  well  as  that  of  his  secretary, 
the  historian  Moryson.  Mountjoy  writes :  "  We  have  seen  no 
one  man  in  all  Tyrone  of  late  but  dead  carcases  merely  hunger 
starved,  of  which  we  found  divers  as  we  passed.  Between  Tul- 
laghoge  and  Toome  [seventeen  miles]  there  lay  unburied  looo 
dead,  and  since  our  first  drawing  this  year  to  Blackwater  there 
were  about  3000  starved  in  Tyrone."  But  this  did  not  satisfy  him ; 
for  soon  after  he  says:  "To-morrow  (by  the  grace  of  God)  I 
am  going  into  the  field,  as  near  as  I  can  utterly  to  waste  the  county 
Tyrone.''  Next  hear  Moryson :  "  Now  because  I  have  often  made 
mention  formerly  of  our  destroying  the  rebels'  corn,  and  using  all 
means  to  famish  them,  let  me  by  one  or  two  examples  show  the 
miserable  estate  to  which  the  rebels  were  thereby  brought.  .  .  . 
And  no  spectacle  was  more  frequent  in  the  ditches  of  towns  than 
to  see  multitudes  of  these  poor  people  dead  with  their  mouths  all 
coloured  green  by  eating  nettles,  docks,  and  all  things  they  could 
rend  up  above  ground." 

O'Neill  was  not  able  to  make  any  headway  against  Mountjoy 
and  Docwra,  and  with  the  few  followers  that  remained  to  him,  he 
retired  into  impenetrable  bogs  and  forests.  But  he  refused  to  sub- 
mit, still  clinging  fondly  to  the  expectation  of  help  from  abroad. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Red  Hugh  O'Donnell  crushed  the 
last  hopes  of  the  chiefs,  and  Rory  O'Donnell  and  others  submitted, 
and  were  gladly  and  favorably  received.  O'Neill  himself,  even  in 
his  fallen  state,  was  still  greatly  dreaded,  for  the  government  were 
now,  as  they  had  been  for  years,  haunted  by  the  apprehension  of 
another  and  more  powerful  armament  from  Spain.  At  length 
Mountjoy,  authorized  by  the  queen,  sent  Sir  Garrett  Moore, 
O'Neill's  old  friend,  to  offer  him  life,  liberty,  and  pardon,  with 
title  and  territory;  and  in  1603  at  Mellifont  near  Drogheda,  a  few 
(lays  after  the  death  of  the  queen,  the  chief  made  submission  to 
the  deputy.  Soon  afterward  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  went  to  Eng- 
land with  Mountjoy.  The  king  received  them  kindly  and  gra- 
ciously, confirmed  O'Neill  in  the  title  of  Earl  of  Tyrone,  made 
Rory  O'Donnell  Earl  of  Tirconnell,  and  restored  both  to  most  of 
t'leir  possessions  and  privileges. 

But   the  earls   were  regarded   with  hatred  and   suspicion   by 


FLIGHT     OF     THE     EARLS  107 

1603-1616 

the  officials  and  adventurers,  especially  by  those  who  had  hoped  to 
profit  by  the  confiscation  of  Ulster,  and  they  were  subjected,  to 
annoyance  and  humiliation,  and  beset  with  spies. 

At  last  matters  reached  a  crisis.  In  1607  a  report  of  a  con- 
spiracy for  another  rebellion  was  concocted  and  spread,  and  the 
two  earls  being  assured  by  some  friends  that  it  was  intended  to 
arrest  them,  made  up  their  minds  as  to  their  actions.  Tyrone 
was  on  a  visit  at  Slane  with  the  deputy,  Sir  Arthur  Chichester, 
when  he  heard  of  the  matter,  and,  keeping  his  mind  to  himself, 
he  took  leave  of  his  host  and  went  to  Sir  Garrett  Moore  of  Melli- 
font,  where  he  remained  for  a  few  days.  On  a  Sunday  morning, 
he  and  his  attendants  took  horse  for  Dundalk.  He  knew  that  he 
was  bidding  his  old  friend  farewell  for  the  last  time,  and  Sir  Gar- 
rett, who  suspected  nothing,  was  surprised  to  observe  that  he  was 
unusually  moved,  blessing  each  member  of  the  household  individu- 
•aily,  and  weeping  bitterly  at  parting.  He  and  his  party  rode  on 
in  haste  till  they  reached  Rathmullan,  on  the  western  shore  of 
Lough  Swilly,  where  a  ship  awaited  them.  Here  he  was  joined  by 
the  Earl  of  Tirconnell  and  his  family.  The  total  number  of  exiles 
taking  ship  was  about  one  hundred.  At  midnight  on  September  14 
they  embarked,  and  bidding  farewell  forever  to  their  native  coun- 
try, they  made  for  the  open  sea,  and  landed  in  France,  where  they 
were  received  with  great  distinction  by  all,  from  the  king  down- 
ward. From  France  the  earls  and  their  families  proceeded  to  Rome, 
where  they  took  up  their  residence,  being  allowed  ample  pensions 
by  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Spain.  O'Donnell  died  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1608;  and  O'Neill,  aged,  blind,  and  worn  by  misfor- 
tune and  disappointment,  died  in  161 6. 


Chapter    XIX 

CONFISCATION  OF  LANDS.     1603-1640 

IET  lis  now  go  back  a  few  years  in  order  to  bring  the  history  of 
the  rehgious  question  abreast  with  our  main  narrative.  The 
^  accession  of  James  I.  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  Irish, 
partly  because  he  was  descended  in  one  hne  from  their  own  ancient 
Milesian  kings,  and  partly  because  they  believed  that,  though  out- 
wardly a  Protestant,  he  was  at  heart  a  Catholic,  and  they  had  strong 
hopes  that  he  would  restore  their  freedom  of  worship.  But  they 
found  their  mistake  when  the  king,  in  1605,  caused  to  be  revived 
in  Ireland  two  penal  enactments,  which  during  the  late  troubles 
had  fallen  very  much  into  disuse — those  of  Supremacy  and  Uni- 
formity. By  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  it  will  be  remembered,  no 
Catholic,  without  taking  an  oath  that  the  king  was  spiritual  head 
of  the  church,  could  hold  any  office  under  government,  could  prac- 
tice as  a  lawyer,  act  as  a  magistrate,  be  appointed  judge,  or  take 
possession  of  an  estate  to  be  held  from  the  king;  and  as  Catholics 
could  not  possibly  take  such  an  oath,  they  were  excluded  from  all 
these  offices  wherever  the  act  was  enforced.  By  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity any  Catholic  might  be  brought  un  and  fined  if  he  absented 
himself  from  Protestant  worship  on  a  Sunday,  and  in  Dublin  many 
of  those  who  refused  to  attend — "  Recusants  "  as  they  were  called 
— ^were  actually  fined  or  imprisoned.  But  except  in  or  near  Dub- 
lin, it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  these  laws,  for  the  people  were 
nearly  all  Catholics.  And  even  in  Dublin,  the  law  for  the  same 
reason  could  not  be  enforced  to  any  extent,  and  numbers  of 
Catholic  magistrates,  lawyers,  and  government  officers  went  on  dis- 
charging their  duties  unmolested. 

1  he  flight  of  the  earls  now  gave  the  opportunity  for  a  project 
of  colonizing  parts  of  Ireland  with  English  and  Scotch  settlers. 
The  earls  had  indeed  committed  no  treasonable  or  unlawful  act  by 
leaving  the  country;  nevertheless  nearly  all  the  fertile  land  of  six 
counties— Donegal,    Derry,    Tyrone,    Armagh,    Fermanagh,    and 

108 


CONFISCATION     OF     LANDS  109 

1608-1609 

Cavan — amounting  to  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  million  English 
acres,  was  confiscated  to  the  Crown  and  given  to  settlers.  This 
was  in  1608.  The  person  to  whom  the  king  intrusted  the  manage- 
ment of  the  whole  Plantation  was  the  lord  deputy,  Sir  Arthur  Chi- 
chester. 

A  great  part  of  the  confiscated  district  was  divided  into  lots 
of  2000,  1500,  and  1000  acres.  The  undertakers  to  whom  the 
2000-acre  lots  were  granted  were  all  Scotch  or  English,  who  were 
required  to  people  their  land  with  Scotch  and  English  tenants,  but 
no  Irish.  Those  who  obtained  the  middle-sized  lots  were  to  be 
all  Protestants  who  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Crown  in  Ire- 
land during  the  late  wars — "  servitors,"  as  they  were  called ;  and 
they  might  take  Scotch,  English,  or  Irish  tenants,  but  no  Catholics. 
The  I  coo-acre  lots  might  be  taken  by  English,  Scotch,  or  Irish 
planters,  who  might  be  either  Protestants  or  Catholics,  and  the 
Catholics  were  not  required  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  Vast 
tracts  were  given  to  London  companies  of  merchants  or  tradesmen, 
and  to  certain  high  officials ;  all  of  whom,  both  companies  and 
individuals,  were  to  plant  their  districts  with  English  and  Scotch 
Protestant  settlers.  Large  tracts  were  granted  for  religious  and 
educational  purposes,  all  Protestant:  Trinity  College,  Dublin 
(which  had  been  founded  in  1592),  getting  9600  acres. 

Of  the  whole  body  of  old  Irish  proprietors  only  286  were  pro- 
vided for :  these  got  58,000  acres — about  one-ninth  of  the  escheated 
lands.  All  the  rest  of  the  natives  were  ordered  "  to  depart  with 
their  goods  and  chattels  at  or  before  the  first  of  May  next  [1609] 
into  what  other  part  of  the  realm  they  pleased."  But,  as  Chichester 
well  knew,  there  was  really  no  other  part  of  the  realm  for  them  to 
go  to;  for  the  people  of  other  districts  would  naturally  resist  the 
encroachment  of  strangers.  Moreover,  it  was  found  impossible  to 
carry  out  the  order  for  the  removal  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
natives,  and  numbers  remained  among  the  new  settlers  as  mere 
laborers  or  tenants  of  small  plots  of  land.  As  for  the  rest,  the 
greater  number,  instead  of  migrating  to  a  distance,  clung  to  their 
native  place,  and  betook  them  to  the  hills,  glens,  and  bogs,  where 
they  eked  out  a  scanty  subsistence,  \vith  bitter  feelings  in  their 
hearts. 

This  turned  out  the  most  successful  of  all  the  plantations,  and 
in  a  short  time  vast  numbers  of  English  Protestants  and  Scotch 
Presbvterians  were  settled  on  the  rich  lowland  farms  all  over  the 


110  IRELAND 

1609-1613 

confiscated  counties.  There  was  no  resistance  of  any  consequence 
this  time;  the  native  people,  crushed  and  dispirited  after  the 
calamities  of  the  late  rebellion,  seem  to  have  submitted  to  their 
fate  in  sullen  despair.  But  the  fighting  came  later  on,  and  in  a 
very  dreadful  form,  for  this  plantation  was  one  of  the  main  causes 
of  the  Great  Rebellion  of  1641. 

To  help  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  plantation,  the  king  created 
the  order  of  "  baronets,"  who  were  to  bear  on  their  coat  of  arms 
the  "  bloody  hand,"  the  badge  of  the  O'Neills.  Each  new  baronet 
had  his  title  on  condition  that  he  maintained  thirty  soldiers  for 
three  years,  at  Sd.  a  day  each — about  1095/.  altogether,  which  rep- 
resents something  like  10,000/.  of  the  present  money.  As  the 
title  was  to  be  hereditary,  i.  c,  was  to  descend  from  father  to  son, 
it  was  eagerly  sought  after,  but  at  that  time  there  was  little  honor 
in  it,  for  it  was  merely  sold  for  money. 

The  lord  deputy  now  resolved  to  summon  a  parliament,  the 
first  held  for  many  years ;  and  in  order  to  enable  him  to  pass 
measures  pleasing  to  the  king,  he  took  steps  to  have  a  Protestant 
majority,  by  creating  forty  spurious  "  boroughs,"  nearly  all  among 
the  settlers  of  Ulster;  little  hamlets  with  only  a  few  inhabitants, 
which  really  did  not  deserve  to  be  specially  represented  in  parlia- 
ment, each  to  return  two  members.  There  were  many  violent 
scenes  in  tliis  parliament,  for  the  Catholics,  though  in  a  minority, 
struggled  hard,  and  not  altogether  unsuccessfully,  for  their  rights. 
Large  sums  were  voted  for  the  king,  who  was  always  in  want 
of  money,  and  some  old  penal  statutes  against  natives  of  Irisli  blood 
were  repealed.  English  law  was  extended  to  the  whole  of  Ireland, 
a  concession  the  Irish  had  often  previously  asked  for  in  vain,  and 
for  which  James  I.  should  get  full  credit. 

King  James  continued  his  plantations  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  but  instead  of  turning  off  the  people  openly  as  in  Ulster, 
he  adopted  a  more  cunning  plan — he  sent  persons  to  examine  the 
titles  of  estates.  These  managed  to  find  flaws,  or  pretended  flaws, 
in  almost  all  the  titles  they  examined.  If  cases  came  to  trial, 
witnesses  and  jurors  were  illegally  forced  to  give  evidence  and 
verdicts  in  favor  of  the  king,  on  which  tlie  owners  were  either 
turned  out,  or  had  to  pay  the  king  large  sums  to  be  allowed  to  re- 
main. The  country  swarmed  with  persons  called  "  Discoverers," 
who  gave  information  of  any  titles  that  could  be  made  out  faulty, 
and  who,  in  reward  for  their  crooked  proceedings,  got,  either  the 


CONFISCATION     OF     LANDS  111 

1625-1633 

estates,  or  part  of  the  money  paid  by  the  owners  to  buy  themselves 
off.  In  consequence  of  these  iniquitous  law  proceedings,  there  were 
several  minor  plantations  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  espe- 
cially in  Leinster,  and  great  numbers  of  industrious  comfortable 
people  were  driven  away  from  their  homes  and  reduced  to  beggary. 
The  whole  country  was  in  a  miserable  state  of  uncertainty,  and  no 
man  was  sure  of  his  property  for  a  day. 

Early  in  the  year  1625,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  inquietude  caused 
by  the  dishonest  proceedings  related  above.  King  James  died,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Charles  I.  This  king  was  in  perpetual 
straits  for  money,  and  the  Irish  Catholics  hoped  that  by  granting 
him  subsidies  he  would  have  the  penal  laws  relaxed.  The  Protes- 
tants also  had  their  troubles,  for  many  of  them,  like  the  Catholics, 
were  threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  estates  through  the  knaveries 
of  the  discoverers. 

Accordingly  in  this  same  year  (1625)  the  Irish  gentry,  Catho- 
lic and  Protestant,  encouraged  by  Falkland,  the  lord  deputy, 
offered  to  pay  120,000/.  (nearly  a  million  of  our  day)  in  install- 
ments to  the  king,  who  agreed  to  grant  certain  concessions  or 
"  Graces  "  as  they  were  called.  There  were  altogether  fifty-one 
Graces,  of  which  the  two  most  important  were,  that  land  owners 
should  be  reasonably  secured  in  their  estates  (which  affected 
Catholics  and  Protestants  alike),  and  that  the  Catholics  should 
not  be  molested  on  account  of  their  religion.  But  the  king,  once 
he  had  the  money,  broke  his  promise,  and  dishonestly  withheld  the 
Graces;  the  land  titles  were  not  confirmed,  and  the  laws  were 
put  in  force  against  the  Catholics,  who  suffered  bitterly  for  a 
time. 

In  1633  the  king  sent  over  as  deputy.  Lord  Wentworth, 
afterward  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  the  most  despotic  ruler  the  Irish 
had  yet  experienced.  He  adopted  a  new  course,  for  he  did  not 
follow  up  the  attempt  to  suppress  the  Catholic  religion :  this  he 
reserved  for  another  opportunity.  His  two  main  objects  were  to 
make  the  king  absolute  master  in  Ireland,  and  to  raise  money  for 
liim ;  which  he  pursued  through  right  and  wrong,  trampling  on 
all  that  crossed  him,  Protestants  and  Catholics  alike.  The  recusants 
were  induced  to  give  him  20,000/.  for  the  king  on  promise  that  the 
penal  statutes  against  them  should  not  be  enforced,  and  the  land- 
holders prevailed  on  him  to  summon  a  parliament  with  the  object 
of  having  the  Graces  confirmed — for  they  could  not  be  carried  out 


112  IRELAND 

1633-1639 

without  the  sanction  of  parliament — paying  at  the  same  time 
another  year's  subsidy.  Accordingly,  parliament  met  and  passed 
subsidies  for  the  king  amounting  to  240,000/.,  but  Wentworth, 
partly  by  bullying  and  partly  by  trickery,  succeeded  in  evading  the 
Graces. 

The  motive  of  all  this  soon  appeared,  for  in  the  following 
year  he  proceeded  to  break  the  titles  all  over  Connaught,  on  the 
pretense  that  they  had  not  been  completed  according  to  law,  so 
that  he  confiscated  nearly  the  whole  province.  There  was  a  regu- 
lar trial  for  each  case,  and  he  obtained  verdicts  in  all,  for  the  good 
reason  that  he  threatened,  punished,  and  imprisoned  sheriffs,  juries, 
and  lawyers  who  thwarted  him — Catholics  and  Protestants  without 
distinction.  This  caused  a  great  outcry,  but  he  persisted  in  his 
outrageous  and  reckless  course,  though  admonished  by  his  friends, 
who  saw  dark  clouds  ahead.  There  was  no  use  in  appealing  against 
this  intolerable  tyranny,  for  his  master  the  king,  who  was  pursu- 
ing much  the  same  course  in  England,  supported  him  in  every- 
thing. By  similar  iniquitous  proceedings  he  confiscated  the  whole 
of  Clare  and  a  large  part  of  Tipperary.  One  main  object  he  ac- 
complished all  through,  for  out  of  every  transaction  he  made  money 
for  the  king.  But  though  Connaught  was  confiscated  it  was  not 
planted;  Wentw^orth  feared  that  any  attempt  to  do  so  would  raise 
a  rebellion,  and  the  king's  position  in  England  was  now  so  pre- 
carious that  it  was  thought  better  to  postpone  the  plantation  to 
some  more  favorable  time — a  time  which  never  came  for  either 
Wentworth  or  the  king. 

At  this  period  there  was  a  flourishing  Irish  trade  in  wool  and 
woolen  cloths,  but  Wentworth  adopted  m.easures  that  almost  de- 
stroyed it,  lest  it  should  interfere  with  the  woolen  trade  of  England. 
On  the  other  hand  he  took  means  to  create  a  linen  trade, 
which  could  do  no  harm  in  England,  and  he  thus  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  what  has  turned  out  a  great  and  flourishing  industry  in 
Ulster. 

Summoning  a  parliament  in  1639,  he  managed  to  obtain  an- 
fjther  supply  for  King  Charles,  who  was  every  day  getting  himself 
more  deeply  in  conflict  with  his  own  parliament  in  England.  But 
with  all  his  tyranny  and  evil  deeds  Wentworth  enforced  order,  and 
kept  down  petty  tyrants,  so  that  there  was  an  increase  of  com- 
merce and  of  general  prosperity  during  his  rule.  He  was  now 
made  Earl  of  Strafford,  and  he  raised  an  army  of  9000  men  in 


CONFISCATION     OF     LANDS  113 

1639-1640 

Ireland,  nearly  all  Catholics,  who  were  well  drilled  and  well  armed, 
intending  them  to  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  king.  But 
his  career  was  drawing  to  a  close.  He  was  recalled  in  1640  to  take 
command  against  the  Scotch  Covenanters.  Soon  afterward  he  was 
impeached  by  the  English  House  of  Commons,  some  of  the  most 
damaging  charges  against  him  coming  from  Ireland,  and  in  May, 
1 64 1,  he  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 


Chapter  XX 

THE   REBELLION    OF    1641 

THIS  great  and  disastrous  rebellion  was  brought  about  by 
the  measures  taken  to  extirpate  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
by  the  Plantations,  beginning  with  that  of  Ulster.  The 
religious  hardships  of  the  Catholics  were  increasing  year  by  year. 
The  Plantations  went  steadily  on  with  hardly  any  intermission, 
and  it  was  well  known  that  Wentworth's  tyrannical  proceedings 
had  the  full  approval  of  the  king,  so  that  it  seemed  plain  to  the 
Irish  that  it  was  the  settled  purpose  of  King  Charles  and  his  ad- 
visers to  root  out  the  whole  native  population  in  order  to  make 
room  for  new  settlers.  Besides  all  this,  the  country  swarmed  with 
persons  wandering  hopelessly  about  in  abject  poverty,  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  homes,  all  of  whom  longed  for  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  fall  on  the  settlers  and  regain  their  homesteads  and 
farms.  As  to  obtaining  redress  by  peaceable  means,  no  one  now 
thought  this  possible  after  the  experience  of  the  Graces. 

At  last  some  of  the  old  Irish  chiefs  and  gentry  held  meetings 
and  came  to  the  determination  to  obtain  their  rights  by  insurrec- 
tion. The  leading  spirit  was  Rory  O'Moore  of  Leix,  a  man  of 
great  influence  and  unblemished  character ;  and  among  many  others 
were  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  of  the  family  of  Tyrone,  and  the  Mac 
Mahons  of  Oriell. 

They  hoped  for  help  from  abroad,  for  many  of  their  exiled 
kindred  had  by  this  time  risen  to  positions  of  great  influence  in 
France,  Spain,  and  the  Netherlands;  and  they  sent  to  Owen  Roe 
O'Neill,  a  soldier  who  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the 
service  of  Spain,  nephew  of  the  great  Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Ty- 
rone, inviting  him  home  to  lead  the  insurgent  army.  He  replied 
urging  an  immediate  rising  and  holding  out  expectations  of  help 
from  France. 

October  23  was  the  day  fixed  on  for  a  simultaneous  ris- 
ing.    Dublin  Castle  with  its  large  store  of  arms,  and  many  of  the 

114 


REBELLION     OF     1641  115 

1641 

fortresses  and  garrisons  all  over  the  countr>%  were  to  be  seized, 
and  the  arms  taken.  Instructions  were  given  to  make  the  gentry 
prisoners,  but  to  kill  or  injure  no  one  except  in  open  conflict,  and 
in  general  to  have  as  little  bloodshed  as  possible.  The  Ulster 
settlers  from  Scotland,  being  regarded  as  kinsmen,  were  not  to  be 
molested.  On  the  evening  of  October  22,  1641,  when  the  prepa- 
rations had  been  completed  in  Dublin,  a  man  named  Owen  O'Con- 
nolly,  to  whom  Mac  Mahon  had  confided  the  secret,  went  to 
Sir  William  Parsons,  one  of  the  lords  justices,  and  told  him  of 
the  plot.  Parsons  at  first  gave  no  heed  to  the  story,  for  he  per- 
ceived that  O'Connolly  was  half  drunk.  But  on  consultation  with 
his  colleague  Sir  John  Borlase,  they  arrested  Maguire  and  Mac 
Mahon  on  the  morning  of  the  23d ;  these  were  subsequently  tried 
in  London  and  hanged.  Rory  O' Moore  and  some  others  then  in 
Dublin  escaped.  Instant  measures  were  taken  to  put  the  city  in 
a  state  of  defense. 

But  though  Dublin  was  saved,  the  rising  broke  out  on  the  23d 
all  through  the  North,  and  the  rebels  took  many  forts.  Sir  Phelim 
O'Neill  exhibited  a  forged  commission  giving  him  authority,  which 
he  alleged  he  had  received  from  King  Charles,  to  which  was 
fraudulently  attached  the  great  seal  he  had  found  in  one  of  the 
castles. 

At  the  end  of  a  week  nearly  all  Ulster  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
rebels,  and  Sir  Phelim  had  an  army  of  30,000  men,  armed  with 
knives,  pitchforks,  scythes,  and  every  weapon  they  could  procure. 
During  this  week  the  original  orders  of  the  leaders  were  carried 
out,  and  there  was  hardly  any  bloodshed.  But  Sir  Phelim,  who 
had  none  of  the  great  qualities  of  his  illustrious  kinsmen,  was  a 
bad  general,  and  soon  lost  all  control  over  his  irregular  army. 
Many  of  those  who  had  risen  up  were  persons  that  had  been  de- 
prived of  their  lands,  who  after  a  time  broke  loose  from  all  disci- 
pline, and  wreaked  their  vengeance  without  restraint  and  without 
mercy  on  the  settlers.  The  country  farmhouses  all  over  the  settle- 
ments were  attacked  by  detached  parties,  under  no  orders  and 
checked  by  no  discipline.  Multitudes  were  stripped  and  turned  out 
half  naked  from  house  and  home— old  and  young,  men,  women, 
and  children ;  and  hundreds,  vainly  trying  to  make  their  way  to 
Dublin,  or  to  other  government  stations,  perished  by  the  wayside, 
of  exposure,  hardship,  and  hunger.  But  there  was  even  worse, 
for  numbers  were  murdered,  often  with  great  cruelty.     Some  of 


116  IRELAND 

1641 

these  excesses  were  carried  out  by  the  orders  of  O'Neill  himself, 
but  the  greatest  number  were  the  acts  of  irresponsible  persons  tak- 
ing vengeance  for  their  own  private  wrongs.  The  outrages  actu- 
ally committed  were  bad  enough,  but  the  daily  reports  that  reached 
England  magnified  them  tenfold,  and  excited  the  utmost  horror 
among  the  English  people. 

During  this  terrible  outbreak  of  fury,  many  Protestants  were 
protected  by  individual  Catholics.  The  priests  exerted  themselves 
to  save  life,  often  at  great  personal  risk,  sometimes  hiding  the  poor 
fugitives  under  the  very  altar  cloths. 

The  numbers  of  victims  have  been  by  some  writers  enormously 
exaggerated,  but  Dr.  Warner,  an  English  writer,  a  Protestant 
clergyman,  who  made  every  effort  to  come  at  the  truth,  believes 
that  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  rebellion,  4000  were  murdered, 
and  that  8000  died  of  ill  usage  and  exposure.  Some  stories  ran 
the  numbers  up  300,000,  but  they  were  mere  exaggerations. 

The  outrages  were  not  confined  to  the  rebels.  There  were 
wholesale  murders  also  on  the  other  side,  and  the  numbers  of  the 
Irish  that  were  killed  all  over  the  country  in  places  where  there 
had  been  no  rising  far  exceeded  those  of  the  settlers  that  had  fallen 
victims  in  Ulster.  In  November  the  Scottish  garrison  of  Carrick- 
fergus  sallied  out  and  slaughtered  a  great  number  of  harmless 
people  in  Island  Magee,  where  there  had  been  no  disturbance  of 
any  kind.  The  two  lords  justices  sent  parties  of  military  from 
Dublin  through  the  country  all  round,  who  massacred  all  the 
people  they  met,  whether  engaged  in  rebellion  or  not.  Their  gen- 
eral. Sir  Charles  Coote,  committed  horrible  cruelties,  especially  in 
Wicklow,  surpassing  the  worst  excesses  of  the  rebels,  killing  and 
torturing  women  and  infants,  as  well  as  men.  In  Munster  Sir 
William  St.  Leger  slaughtered  vast  numbers  of  innocent  persons, 
in  order,  as  he  said,  to  avenge  the  cruelties  committed  in  Ulster, 
and  forced  the  people  of  the  province,  the  Anglo-Irish  as  well  as 
the  old  Irish  native  race,  to  rise  in  rebellion,  much  against  their 
will. 

Toward  the  end  of  1641  the  old  Anglo-Irish  nobility  and 
gentry  of  the  Pale,  who  were  all  Catholics  and  all  thoroughly  loyal, 
were  treated  by  the  two  lords  justices,  Parsons  and  Borlase,  with 
brutal  harshness,  merely  because  they  were  Catholics.  They  in- 
sulted tliem  in  every  possible  way,  and  Coote  burned  many  of  their 
houses,  so  that  they  were  forced  to  combine  for  their  own  protec- 


REBELLION     OF     1641  117 

1641 

tion,  and  at  last  they  were  driven  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  insurgents. 
There  could  not  have  been  more  unfit  men  at  the  head  of  affairs 
in  this  critical  time  than  these  lords  justices,  and  their  conduct  is 
condemned  by  historians  of  all  shades  of  opinion.  In  spite  of  the 
remonstrances  of  their  best  counselors  they  acted  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  spread  the  trouble  instead  of  allaying  it,  so  that  in  a  short  time 
the  rebellion  had  extended  through  all  Ireland. 


Chapter    XXI 

FROM   KILKENNY  TO  BENBURB.     1642-1649 

AT  the  opening  of  1642  there  were  in  the  distracted  country 
/\  four  distinct  parties,  each  with  an  army.  The  first  of 
X  JL  these,  the  Old  Irish,  whose  leader  was  Rory  O'Moore, 
were  oppressed  by  Plantations  and  by  religious  hardships,  and  they 
aimed  at  total  separation  from  England.  Their  army  was  chiefly 
confined  to  Ulster. 

The  Old  Anglo-Irish  Catholics,  nearly  all  of  the  middle  and 
south  of  Ireland,  suffered  on  account  of  their  religion  as  much 
as  the  Old  Irish ;  and  also  by  the  Plantations,  though  not  to  the 
same  extent ;  and  they  wanted  religious  and  civil  liberty,  but  not 
separation  from  England.  These  two  parties  represented  all  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland;  but  there  was  much  jealousy  and  distrust 
between  them,  and  this  disunion  ruined  their  cause  in  the  end. 

The  Puritans,  including  the  Prfesbyterians  and  Scots  of  Ulster, 
formed  a  third  party  under  General  IMonro.  At  this  time  King 
Charles  I.  was  getting  deeper  and  deeper  into  trouble  with  the 
parliament  in  England,  and  of  all  the  Parliamentarians,  his  most 
determined  and  successful  enemies  were  the  Covenanters  of  Scot- 
land. Monro  and  his  amiy  woi"ked  in  harmony  with  the  Covenan- 
ters, and  as  they  were  very  hostile  to  Catholics  and  the  Catholic 
religion,  they  were  the  special  opponents  of  the  Old  Irish  Party, 
with  whom  they  constantly  came  into  collision  in  Ulster, 

Finally,  there  was  the  Royalist  Party,  who  held  Dublin.  These 
were  chiefly  Protestants  of  the  Established  Church,  who  were 
opposed  to  the  Parliamentarians.  They  were  the  party  of  the 
king;  and  they  wished  to  make  it  appear  that  the  Catholics  were 
rebels  against  him. 

The  war  went  on  during  the  early  part  of  1642  with  varying 
fortunes;  sometimes  the  rebels  were  victorious,  sometimes  tlie  gov- 
ernment forces.  In  Ulster  the  rebels  were  losing  ground,  and 
losing  heart,  chiefly  through  the  incompetency  of  Sir  Phelim 
O'Xeill,  who  had  no  military  knowledge  or  experience.    The  Scot- 

118 


KILKENNY     TO     BENBURB  119 

1642-1643 

tish  army  there  soon  amounted  to  20,000  men  under  Monro,  who 
plundered  and  spoiled  the  province  with  Httle  check. 

Owen  Roe  O'Neill  landed  in  Donegal  in  July,  1642,  with  a 
single  ship  and  a  hundred  officers,  and  taking  command  of  the  Old 
Irish  anny  in  place  of  Sir  Phelim,  immediately  set  about  organiz- 
ing the  scattered  Irish  forces.  He  soon  changed  the  whole  aspect 
of  affairs.  He  strongly  denounced  the  past  cruelties,  severely 
punished  the  offenders,  so  far  as  he  was  able  to  reach  them,  and 
set  free  the  Protestant  prisoners,  whom  he  caused  to  be  escorted 
to  a  place  of  safety.  Soon  afterward  another  important  leader 
landed  on  the  Wexford  coast  to  join  the  Catholic  party.  Colonel 
Preston.  He  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  wars  on  the  Con- 
tinent; and  he  now  took  command  of  the  Anglo-Irish  Catholic 
army. 

The  two  branches  of  the  Catholics  had  hitherto  acted  inde- 
pendently of  one  another,  each  struggling  for  much  the  same  cause, 
but  without  any  unity  of  plan.  But  a  great  effort  was  now  made 
by  the  Catholic  bishops  and  other  dignitaries  to  bring  these  two 
parties  to  act  in  concert,  and  in  accordance  with  their  arrangements 
a  general  assembly  or  parliament  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
both  sections,  consisting  of  eleven  bishops,  fourteen  lay  lords,  and 
226  commoners,  met  in  Kilkenny  on  October  24.  This  is  known 
as  the  "  Confederation  of  Kilkenny."  The  Royalist  Party  of 
Dublin  represented  them  as  in  rebellion,  but  the  Confederate 
leaders  earnestly  denied  that  they  were  rebels,  and  proclaimed 
themselves  loyal  subjects,  standing  up  for  the  king,  who,  they  said, 
would  do  them  justice  if  the  Puritans  would  only  let  him  act  freely. 
The  assembly,  having  first  proclaimed  their  loyalty  to  the  king, 
took  upon  themselves  for  the  time  the  government  of  the  country, 
or  of  that  part  of  it  outside  the  influence  of  the  lords  justices,  and 
appointed  generals  over  the  army :  O'Neill  for  Ulster,  Preston 
for  Leinster,  and  two  others  for  Munster  and  Connaught.  To 
manage  affairs  with  greater  facility  they  elected  from  their  number 
a  "  Supreme  Council  "  of  twenty-four,  six  from  each  province. 
And  they  issued  a  decree  for  raising-  and  coining  money,  and  for 
levying  men,  who  were  to  be  drilled  by  the  officers  that  had  come 
with  O'Neill  and  Preston.  For  some  time  after  this  the  two 
Catholic  parties  worked  in  union;  and  Owen  Roe  O'Neill  with  the 
Old  Irish  carried  on  the  war  in  Ulster  against  Monro,  and  Preston 
with  the  Anglo-Irish  Catholics  in  Leinster  against  the  Royalists. 


120  IRELAND 

1643-1646 

The  king  was  most  anxious  to  come  to  terms  with  the  Con- 
federates as  a  help  against  the  English  and  Scotch  Parliamenta- 
rians; and  in  1644  he  appointed  James  Butler,  Marquis  (after- 
ward Duke)  of  Ormond,  lord  lieutenant,  with  full  power  to  offer 
satisfactory  terms  to  the  Confederates.  But  Ormond  was  only 
half-hearted  in  the  business,  so  the  proceedings  still  dragged  on; 
and  besides  this,  the  king  was  a  double-dealer,  ready  to  promise 
anything,  but  intending  to  perform  as  little  as  possible.  When 
accused  by  the  Parliamentarians  of  offering  favorable  terms  to  the 
Roman  Catholics,  he  openly  denied  that  he  had  done  any  such 
thing.  He  was  in  fact  trying  to  deceive  both  parties.  Catholics  and 
Parliamentarians. 

With  the  object  of  more  closely  uniting  the  Old  Irish  and  Old 
English  to  defend  the  Catholic  religion  and  to  sustain  the  king 
against  the  Parliamentarians,  the  Pope  sent  to  the  Confederates, 
as  nuncio.  Archbishop  Baptist  Rinuccini,  who  brought  them  a 
supply  of  money  and  arms.  But  this  encouragement  was  much 
more  than  counter-balanced  by  the  ever-increasing  fatal  division  in 
the  Confederation.  The  bisliops  and  those  who  represented  the 
Old  Irish  Party  were  for  carrying  on  the  war  vigorously,  and  on 
their  side  were  Rinuccini  and  O'Neill.  On  the  other  hand  the 
Anglo-Irish  Party,  chiefly  consisting  of  the  lay  element,  who  had 
the  majority  in  the  assembly,  were  for  treating  with  the  Royalists, 
and  following  out  this  line  of  policy,  they  held  back  military  opera- 
tions and  wasted  time  in  fruitless  negotiations.  To  make  matters 
worse  there  was  bitter  rivalry  betw'een  the  two  generals :  Preston 
hated  O'Neill,  and  O'Neill  took  no  pains  to  conceal  his  contempt 
for  Preston.  The  Anglo-Irish  Party,  through  mere  jealousy  of 
O'Neill,  the  only  great  soldier  now  in  Ireland,  refused  to  support 
him  with  the  necessary  supplies,  so  that  for  a  long  time  he  was  un- 
able to  make  head  against  Monro  in  the  North.  Though  struggling 
against  these  great  difficulties,  he  at  last  succeeded,  partly  by  means 
of  the  money  supplied  by  the  nuncio,  in  collecting  an  army  of  5000 
foot  and  500  horse;  which  he  kept  stationed  on  the  borders  of 
Cavan.  Meantime  Monro,  aware  that  Leinster  was  at  this  time 
almost  unprotected — for  Preston  with  his  army  was  in  Connaught 
— made  preparations  to  march  southward  to  Kilkenny  to  annihilate 
the  small  Confederate  force  left  there,  and  suppress  the  Confedera- 
tion itself.  When  O'Neill  received  intelligence  of  this,  he  broke 
up  camp  and  marched  north  in  the  beginning  of  June.   1646,  de- 


KILKENNY     TO     B E N B U R B 


1^1 


1646 

termined  to  intercept  him,  and  if  possible,  to  draw  him  into  battle. 
Monro  had  set  out  from  Carrickfergus  with  *6ooo  foot  and  800 
horse,  and  hearing,  on  arriving  near  Armagh,  of  O'Neill's  move- 
ment, he  turned  aside  from  his  course  in  order  to  crush  the  Irish 
army;  and  he  sent  word  to  his  brother  George  Monro  to  join  him 
with  a  reinforcement  of  cavalry.  For  he  had  been  warned  to  be- 
ware of  O'Neill's  consummate  generalship,  and  he  was  unwilling 


to  meet  him  except  with  very  superior  numbers.  But  O'Neill  had 
been  too  quick  for  him.  He  arrived  at  Glasslough  before  the 
brothers  had  time  to  join,  and  crossing  the  Blackwater  into  Ty- 
rone, he  encamped  at  Benburb.  Next  morning,  June  5,  having 
first  sent  two  regiments  north  under  Bernard  Mac  Mahon  and 
Patrick  Mac  Neny  to  intercept  George  Monro,  he  selected  at  his 
leisure  an  excellent  position  for  battle  on  the  Blackwater,  between 
two  s-mall  hills,  with  a  wood  in  the  rear,  and  awaited  the  approach 
of  the  Scottish  army.  Early  on  that  same  morning  Monro  marched 
from  Armagh  toward  Benburb,  crossed  the  river  and  advanced 
toward  O'Neill.  The  two  armies  now  stood  face  to  face,  but 
O'Neill,  knowing  that  his  opponents  were  already  wearied  after 
their  long  morning's  march,  skillfully  wasted  the  day  in  light  skir- 


122  IRELAND 

1646-1647 

mishes  till  late  in  the  evening-,  when  the  sun  had  come  round  and 
shone  full  in  the  faces  of  the  Scottish  army.  While  the  skirmish- 
ing was  still  going  on,  and  growing  every  moment  more  hot,  Monro 
was  deceived  by  mistaking  some  Irish  for  his  reenforcements,  and 
O'Neill  seized  the  moment  for  a  general  assault.  Twice  did  Monro 
attempt  to  stop  the  advance  by  hurling  against  the  ranks  squadrons 
of  cavalry,  which  in  both  cases  were  driven  back  among  his  foot- 
men, and  he  could  not  bring  up  his  rear  detachments.  In  the  midst 
of  all  this  confusion,  down  on  them  came  O'Neill's  well-arranged 
solid  battalions.  At  once  they  gave  way  before  this  terrible  onset, 
and,  turning  round,  rushed  back  in  utter  rout.  But  right  in  their 
wav  flowed  the  river,  deep  and  rapid ;  and,  besides  those  slain  in 
fight,  vast  numbers  were  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross,  so  that 
the  survivors  were  able  to  pass  over  the  bodies  lying  in  the  water. 
Monro  himself  escaped  and  fled  in  panic,  bareheaded,  leaving  on  the 
field  his  cloak,  helmet,  and  wig.  Upward  of  2000  of  his  army  fell, 
while  the  Irish  lost  only  seventy. 

This  great  victory  of  O'Neill,  which  was  quite  as  brilliant  as 
that  of  his  uncle  at  the  Yellow  Ford,  forty-eight  years  before, 
restored  for  a  time  the  influence  of  the  Old  Irish  Party  in  the 
Confederation. 

It  became  known  to  the  Confederates  that  Ormond  had  been 
holding  correspondence  with  the  Parliamentarians,  and  fearing  lest 
Dublin  might  be  betrayed,  they  ordered  O'Neill  and  Preston  to 
combine  their  forces  and  attempt  its  capture — a  thing  that  might 
have  been  easily  accomplished,  for,  though  Ormond  had  been  mak- 
ing some  hasty  preparations,  the  defenses  were  very  weak.  The 
two  armies  had  arrived  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city,  but  there 
was  delay,  owing  mainly  to  the  obstruction  of  Preston,  who,  follow- 
ing up  the  spirit  of  the  Confederate  majority,  proposed  to  treat 
with  Ormond  instead  of  attacking  the  city  at  once.  During  this 
period  of  hesitation  and  suspicion,  a  trifling  alarm  occurred,  on 
which  both  armies  broke  up  camp  and  marched  away.  The  end  of 
the  matter  was  that  Ormond  delivered  up  Dublin  to  the  Parliamen- 
tarians and  went  to  France.  Soon  afterward — in  August  of  1647 
— Preston  was  disastrously  defeated  by  Colonel  Jones,  the  Par- 
liamentarian governor  of  Dublin,  with  a  loss  of  more  than  5000 
men,  and  in  tlie  same  year  Lord  Inchiquin,  formerly  a  Royalist  but 
now  on  the  side  of  the  Parliament — who  is  known  as  Murrogh  the 
Burner  from  his  merciless  ravages  in  Munster — inflicted  quite  as 


KILKENNY     TO     BENBURB  123 

1647-1649 

bad  a  defeat  on  the  Confederate  army  at  Knocknanuss  near  Mallow, 
owing  to  the  incapacity  of  their  commander,  Lord  Taaffe, 

After  more  than  a  year's  absence,  Ormond  returned,  and  hav- 
ing resumed  his  place  as  head  of  the  Protestant  Royalists,  he  finally 
made  peace  with  the  Confederates,  in  1649,  agreeing  to  their  main 
condition  that  the  laws  against  Catholics  should  be  repealed ;  and 
it  was  also  stipulated  that  both  the  Confederates  and  Ormond's 
forces  should  combine  and  act  in  support  of  the  king.  Thus  came 
to  a  termination  a  seven  years'  war  between  the  Confederates  and 
the  Royalists.  But  all  this  was  too  late.  Dublin  had  been  given 
up,  and  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliamentarians,  and  about 
a  fortnight  after  the  peace  had  been  signed,  King  Charles  was 
beheaded.  In  the  same  year  the  nuncio,  finding  his  mission  a 
failure,  returned  to  Rome. 

The  death  of  the  king  caused  a  counter-movement  in  Ireland, 
and  many  abandoned  the  Parliamentary  side.  The  Royalist  cause 
was  now  favored,  as  against  the  English  Parliamentarians,  by 
nearly  all  the  Irish  parties,  including  Ormond,  the  Confederates, 
and  the  Scots  and  Presbyterians  of  Ulster,  and  they  proclaimed  the 
Prince  of  Wales  king  as  Charles  II.  On  the  side  of  the  Parliament, 
Jones  still  held  Dublin,  and  Sir  Charles  Coote,  Derry.  Inchiquin — 
now  again  turned  Royalist — took  from  them  Drogheda,  Dundalk, 
Newry,  and  Trim;  and  Ormond,  with  a  view  of  following  up  Inchi- 
quin's  successes,  besieged  Dublin  to  recover  what  he  had  so  easily 
given  up  two  years  before.  He  encamped  at  Rathmines,  but  took 
steps  to  move  his  encampment  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Liffey,  in 
order  to  stop  supplies  coming  by  sea  to  the  city.  With  this  object 
he  ordered  Major-General  Purcell  to  fortify  the  old  castle  of  Bagot 
Rath,  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  standing  on  a  site  then 
in  the  open  country,  but  now  occupied  by  a  part  of  Upper  Baggot 
Street.  But  before  the  work  had  been  even  begun,  Jones  sallied 
forth  in  the  night  of  August  2,  and  surprised  not  only  Purcell, 
but  Ormond  himself,  and  utterly  routed  the  whole  army.  This 
great  disaster,  which  was  due  to  the  dilatoriness  of  Purcell  and  the 
bad  generalship  of  Ormond,  almost  ruined  the  Royalist  cause  in 
Ireland. 


Chapter    XXII 

IRELAND  UNDER  THE  COMMONWEALTH.     1649-1660 

IN  England  the  Parliamentarians,  headed  by  Cromwell,  were 
now  triumphant,  while  the  great  majority  of  the  Irish  stood 
up  for  King  Charles  II.  There  was  a  small  party  of  Par- 
liamentarians in  Ireland,  too,  who  held  Dublin,  Derry,  and  a  few 
other  important  places,  and  in  order  to  crush  finally  the  Royalists 
it  became  necessary  to"  reduce  Ireland.  With  this  object  Oliver 
Cromwell,  as  the  best  and  most  influential  of  the  Parliamentarian 
generals,  was  appointed  lord  lieutenant  and  commander  of  the 
forces  in  Ireland,  and  landed  at  Dublin  on  August  14  with  9000 
foot,  4000  horse,  a  supply  of  military  stores,  and  20,000/.  in 
money,  accompanied  by  his  son-in-law  Ireton  as  second  in  com- 
mand. Before  commencing  his  military  operations  he  issued  a 
proclamation  against  plunder  and  excesses  of  every  kind,  ordering 
that  all  supplies  taken  from  the  natives  should  be  paid  for.  He 
first  proceeded  against  Drogheda,  which  had  been  garrisoned  by 
Ormond  with  3000  troops,  chiefly  English,  under  Sir  Arthur  Ash- 
ton.  The  walls  were  battered  with  cannon  for  two  days  till  a 
sufficient  breach  was  made,  when  the  order  was  given  to  storm. 
Two  desperate  attempts  to  enter  were  repulsed,  but  the  third  suc- 
ceeded, and  immediately,  on  Cromwell's  order,  a  general  massacre 
was  commenced,  which  lasted  for  several  days;  and  Ashton  and  his 
garrison,  with  great  numbers  of  the  townspeople,  w^ere  killed. 
About  thirty  of  the  garrison  who  had  escaped  the  massacre  were 
shipped  off  to  Barbadoes  as  slaves.  After  this.  Trim,  Dundalk, 
Carlingford,  Newry,  and  several  other  places  in  the  north, 
surrendered. 

Cromwell  returned  to  Dublin,  and  marching  south,  appeared 
before  Wexford,  which  was  well  fortified  and  garrisoned  with  3000 
men,  under  the  command  of  David  Sinnott.  He  began  his  can- 
nonade on  October  11,  and  when  some  breaches  had  been  made, 
.Sinnott  asked  for  a  parley.  But  meantime  Captain  Stafford,  the 
ccjmmander  of  the  strong  castle  just  outside  the  walls,  treacher- 

124 


THE     COMMONWEALTH  125 

1649-1650 

ously  delivered  it  up  to  Cromwell's  troops;  which  enabled  a  party 
of  the  besiegers  to  get  into  the  town  and  open  the  gates.  The 
garrison,  finding  they  were  betrayed,  retreated  to  the  market-place, 
where  they  found  the  townspeople  congregated.  Here  they  de- 
fended themselves  in  desperation  for  an  hour,  but  were  overpowered 
by  numbers,  and  Cromwell's  soldiers,  under  his  orders,  killed  gar- 
rison and  townspeople  without  distinction,  to  the  number  of  2000. 
The  fate  of  Drogheda  and  Wexford  struck  the  Irish  with  terror; 
Cork  and  many  other  southern  towns  now  yielded  on  mere  sum- 
mons, and  Cromwell  rested  his  troops  for  a  month  in  mid-winter 
at  Youghal. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  havoc  and  clash  of  war,  Owen  Roe 
O'Neill,  the  only  commander  in  Ireland  that  seemed  a  match  for 
the  great  parliamentary  general,  was  struck  down  by  sickness  on 
his  way  southward  to  join  Ormond,  and  died  at  Cloghoughter  Cas- 
tle in  Cavan  on  November  6,  1649,  ^^^  with  him  passed  away  the 
chief  hope  of  the  Royalist  party. 

At  the  end  of  January  Cromwell  set  out  to  traverse  Munster. 
Most  towns  he  came  to  were  given  up,  and  where  there  was  serious 
resistance  he  usually  put  the  garrison  to  the  sword.  At  Clonmel, 
which  was  held  by  Hugh  O'Neill,  Owen  Roe's  nephew,  he  met  with 
the  most  determined  resistance  he  had  yet  experienced.  For  a  long 
time  all  efforts  to  take  the  town  were  foiled ;  and  after  a  final  assault 
in  the  month  of  May,  he  had  to  withdraw  with  a  loss  of  2500  of 
his  men.  But  O'Neill,  having  exhausted  his  ammunition,  quietly 
withdrew  in  the  night  with  his  army  to  Waterford,  and  as  Crom- 
well was  not  aware  of  this  movement,  the  town  was  able  to  obtain 
favorable  terms  on  surrender. 

In  the  north  his  generals,  Colonel  Venables  and  Sir  Charles 
Coote — son  of  Sir  Charles  Coote  of  Wicklow  notoriety — were  also 
very  successful,  capturing  town  after  town,  and  by  May  the  Par- 
liamentarians had  possession  of  the  greater  number  of  the  fortresses 
of  both  North  and  South.  On  the  surrender  of  Clonmel,  Cromwell, 
seeing  the  country  virtually  subdued,  sailed  for  England  on  May 
29,  after  a  stay  of  nine  months,  leaving  Ireton  to  finish  the  war. 
At  the  very  time  that  the  Confederates  were  thus  loyally  fighting 
and  suffering  for  Charles,  this  young  king,  who  was  then  in  Scot- 
land, repudiated  any  agreement  with  the  Irish,  in  order  that  he 
might  gain  the  favor  of  the  Scots,  and  declared  himself  against 
allowing  them  liberty  to  practice  their  religion. 


1*26  IRELAND 

1650-1652 

Ireton  now  turned  his  attention  to  Limerick,  the  most  impor- 
tant place  in  possession  of  the  RoyaHsts,  which  was  commanded  by 
Hugh  O'Neill,  the  defender  of  Clonmel.  O'Neill  defended  the 
place  with  great  obstinacy;  but  there  was  disunion,  and  he  was 
not  supported  by  the  magistrates,  and  besides,  the  plague  was  raging 
among  the  citizens.  At  length  the  place  was  betrayed.  The  garri- 
son was  allowed  to  march  away,  but  several  of  the  prominent 
defenders  were  executed.  Ireton  himself  died  uf  the  plague  within 
a  montlu  After  his  death.  Lieutenant  General  Edmund  Ludlow, 
taking  command,  marched  to  the  aid  of  Coote  at  Galway,  which 
surrendered  on  May  12,  1652,  after  a  siege  of  nine  months,  and 
the  capture  of  a  few  detached  castles  completed  the  conquest  of 
Ireland  by  the  Parliamentarians. 

Charles  Fleetwood,  who  was  Cromwell's  son-in-law — having 
married  Ireton's  widow — took  command  of  the  army,  and  was 
afterward  appointed  lord  deputy.  Under  his  direction  a  High 
Court  of  Justice  was  instituted  in  October,  to  punish  those  who  had 
been  concerned  in  the  rising  of  1641 ;  about  200  were  sentenced  and 
hanged,  and  among  them  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill.  On  the  very  scaffold 
he  was  offered  pardon  if  he  only  asserted  that  the  forged  commis- 
sion he  exhibited  eleven  years  before  had  been  really  given  him  by 
King  Charles,  which  would  be  a  sort  of  justification  for  the  king's 
execution ;  but  he  resolutely  refused,  and  died  with  fortitude  and 
Christian  penitence. 

The  war  was  now — 1652 — ended;  but  for  a  long  time  there 
had  been  a  terrible  pestilence  raging  all  over  the  country,  which 
still  continued.  Famine  came  to  help  the  work  of  destruction,  and 
for  two  or  three  years  these  two  scourges  spread  death  and  desola- 
tion and  misery  everywhere.  But  worse  than  even  all  this  was  to 
come.  Cromwell's  soldiers  were  to  be  paid  by  grants  of  confiscated 
estates  when  the  country  should  be  conquered.  The  English  Par- 
liament now  professed  to  consider  the  whole  of  Ireland  forfeited, 
and  that  therefore  tliey  might  do  as  they  pleased  with  the  land  and 
the  pe()])lc.  In  August,  1652,  the  Parliament  passed  an  act  to 
dispose  of  the  Irisli.  The  poorer  sort  of  people  of  the  three  prov- 
inces of  LT-ter.  Leinster,  and  Alunster — plowmen,  tradesmen,  labor- 
ers, etc. — were  not  to  be  disturbed,  for  the  settlers  would  need  them 
as  mere  workingmen.  All  above  these,  the  gentry  of  every  class, 
whether  Anglo-Iri^h  or  of  old  native  blood,  were  ordered  to  trans- 
i>Iant  themselves  and  their  families  across  the  Shannon  into  Con- 


THE     C  O  ^1  M  O  N  W  E  A  L  T  H  127 

1652-1660 

naught  and  Clare,  where  they  were  to  be  given  small  allotments  of 
lands  that  had  been  left  waste.  The  same  edict,  though  mainly 
directed  against  Catholics,  was  not  exclusively  confined  to  them. 
Many  Protestants  who  had  fought  against  the  Parliament  were 
included  in  the  proscription.  The  Presbyterians  of  Down  and 
Antrim  did  not  escape  scathless,  for  they  had  shown  some  loyalty 
to  the  king.  They  were  to  transplant  themselves,  not  to  Con- 
naught,  but  to  the  hilly  parts  of  Leinster,  where  poor  little  plots  of 
land  were  assigned  to  them. 

The  Catholic  Irish  were  to  move  to  the  West  by  May  i,  1654; 
and  any  of  those  ordered  away — young  or  old — men  or  women — 
found  in  any  part  of  the  three  provinces  after  that  date,  might  be 
killed  by  whoever  met  them.  Moreover,  they  were  not  permitted 
to  live  within  four  miles  of  the  sea  or  of  any  town,  or  withjn  two 
miles  of  the  Shannon. 

Those  who  were  forced  to  undertake  this  terrible  migration 
were  mostly  families  accustomed  to  a  life  of  easy  comfort.  It  so 
happened  that  the  move  had  to  be  made  chiefly  in  winter,  and  the 
season  was  unusually  wet  and  severe.  The  roads  were  so  bad  as 
to  be  almost  impassable,  for  people  had  something  else  to  do  in 
those  times  besides  attending  to  roads,  and  as  the  miserable  crowds 
trudged  along,  hundreds  of  women,  children,  and  feeble  persons 
perished  of  want  and  hardship. 

But  great  numbers  of  the  younger  men.  instead  of  migrating, 
formed  themselves  into  bands  to  be  avenged  on  the  new  settlers, 
like  the  expelled  natives  of  Queen  Mary's  time.  These  "  Tories  " 
and  "  Rapparees,"  as  they  were  called,  gave  great  trouble,  plunder- 
ing and  killing  at  every  opportunity ;  they  were  hunted  down  by  the 
settlers,  and  neither  gave  nor  received  quarter.  This  terrible 
war  went  on  for  many  years  till  the  Tories  were  in  great  measure 
exterminated. 

The  Irish  soldiers  who  had  fought  against  the  Parliament  were 
allowed  to  enlist  in  foreign  countries;  and  34,000  of  them  emigrated 
and  entered  the  service  of  France,  Spain,  Austria,  and  Venice. 
There  were  wndows  and  orphans  everywhere,  and  a  terrible  fate 
awaited  these :  they  were  Ininted  down  and  brought  forth  from  their 
hiding  places,  and  large  numbers  of  them,  and  many  men  also,  were 
sent  to  the  West  Indian  Islands  to  be  sold  as  slaves. 

A  new  survey  of  the  country  was  made,  and  the  lands  were 
distributed  to  Cromwell's  soldiers  and  to  those  who  had  advance.! 


128  IRELAND 

1652-1660 

money  to  carry  on  the  war.  This  vast  exodus  of  the  native  popula- 
tion went  on  from  1652  to  1654.  But  it  was  found  impossible  to 
clear  the  gentry  completely  out  of  the  land.  Many  settled  in  wild 
places;  many  were  taken  as  under-tenants  on  their  own  lands,  and 
in  course  of  time  many  intermarried  with  the  new  settlers.  The 
laws  against  the  Catholic  religion  and  against  Catholic  priests  were 
now  put  in  force  with  unsparing  severity.  But  the  priests  remained 
among  their  flocks,  hiding  in  wild  places  and  under  various  dis- 
guises, and  the  Catholic  religion  was  practiced  as  earnestly  and  as 
generally  as  ever. 

This  dreadful  Cromwellian  episode  must  be  taken  as  proceed- 
ing, not  from  the  English  Government  or  the  English  people,  but 
from  the  will  of  one  man,  who  then  ruled  as  despotically  in  England 
as  in  Ireland,  though  not  with  such  cruelty. 


Chapter    XXIII 

IRELAND  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION.     1660-1688 

CHARLES  XL's  restoration  (1660)  pleased  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics very  much,  for  as  they  had  fought  and  suffered  for 
his  father  and  for  himself,  they  naturally  expected  to  be 
reinstated,  at  least  to  a  reasonable  extent,  in  their  lands,  from  which 
they  had  been  expelled  only  six  or  seven  years  previously.  With- 
out any  great  difficulty  he  could  have  repaired  much  of  the  injustice 
done  to  the  old  inhabitants  while  inflicting  no  very  serious  hardship 
on  the  new.  But  the  faithless  king,  while  rewarding  several  leading 
persons  who  had  been  his  bitterest  enemies,  gave  himself  little  con- 
cern about  those  who  had  befriended  him  in  his  time  of  need,  either 
in  England  or  in  Ireland,  and  the  Catholics  received  a  scant  meas- 
ure of  justice.  The  Irish  Parliament,  having  considered  the  claims 
of  the  old  and  of  the  new  proprietors,  passed  what  is  called  the  Act 
of  Settlement  ( 1661),  which  gave  the  new  settlers,  as  a  body,  a  title 
to  their  holdings.  But  those  of  the  dispossessed  Catholic  owners 
who  could  prove  that  they  were  innocent  of  any  connection  with 
the  rising  of  1641  were  to  be  restored.  The  term  "  Nocent  "  was 
used  to  designate  those  who  had  been  involved  in  tlie  rebellion; 
"  Innocent,"  those  who  proved  themselves  free  of  it.  Any  of 
the  settlers  whom  this  new  arrangement  displaced  were  to  be 
"  reprised  "  by  granting  land  elsewhere. 

To  try  these  numerous  cases,  a  "  Court  of  Claims  "  was  estab- 
lished in  1663.  But  before  this  court  had  been  long  at  work,  it 
was  found  that  almost  all  that  came  before  it  to  be  tried  were  able 
to  prove  tliemselves  "  Innocent  " — a  result  quite  unexpected,  so 
that  the  settlers  became  greatly  alarmed,  and  many  threatened  to 
rise  in  rebellion.  Through  their  influence  a  stop  was  put  to  the 
proceedings,  and  a  new  act  was  passed,  known  as  the  Act  of 
Explanation  (1665),  under  which  the  settlers  agreed  to  give  up 
one-third  of  their  possessions.  But  this  did  not  afford  nearly 
enough  for  all  those  who  were  able  to  make  good  their  claim  to  be 
restored,  and  for  those  of  tlie  settlers  who  were  to  be  reprised,  and 

129 


130  IRELAND 

1665-1680 

to  make  matters  worse,  the  king  gave  immense  grants  to  his  rela- 
tives and  to  other  favored  persons  having  no  claim  of  any  kind, 
which  greatly  lessened  the  available  land. 

After  much  wrangling,  lasting  over  some  years,  matters  were 
adjusted;  and  it  came  to  tliis,  that  whereas  before  the  Settlement 
the  Catholics  possessed  two-thirds  of  all  the  arable  land  (the  remain- 
ing third  being  held  by  Protestants  of  the  Plantation  times  of  Eliz- 
abeth and  James),  after  the  time  of  this  final  arrangement  they  had 
only  one-third,  while  two-thirds  remained  with  the  Protestants. 
There  remained  a  large  proportion  of  the  Catholics  who  were  not 
restored,  most  of  them  dispossessed  persons  whose  cases  were  not 
heard  at  all,  on  account  of  the  stoppage  of  the  Court  of  Claims. 
Numbers  of  these  held  on  in  their  poor  homes  in  Connaught;  and 
some,  having  no  implements  or  stock  or  capital  to  start  them  in  their 
new  life,  sank  into  hopeless  poverty  and  perished  of  privation.  As 
to  the  new  settlers  and  their  children,  the  majority,  like  those  of 
earlier  times,  became  gradually  absorbed  by  intermarriage  among 
the  natives. 

At  the  time  of  the  Restoration  the  population  of  Ireland  was 
about  1,100,000,  of  whom  800,000  were  Roman  Catholics — includ- 
ing the  old  English,  who  were  nearly  all  Catholics;  100,000  were 
Protestants  of  the  Established  Church ;  and  200,000  Non-conform- 
ing Protestants,  of  whom  one-half  (100,000)  were  Presbyterians. 
All  sections  of  Protestants  were  alike  hostile  to  the  Roman  Catholics. 
During  the  Parliamentary  sway  the  Non-conformists  had  the  upper 
hand,  and  the  Established  Church  was  repressed,  and  its  clergy 
removed,  though  beyond  this  neither  clergy  nor  people  suffered 
much;  while  still  stronger  measures,  as  we  have  seen,  were  taken 
against  the  Roman  Catholics.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  Charles  II. 
was  to  restore  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland;  and  the  bishops 
and  ministers  returned  to  their  dioceses  and  parishes,  all  being 
provided  with  good  incomes,  though  they  had  but  few  parishioners. 

After  this,  the  Act  of  Uniformity  was  brought  to  bear  chiefly 
on  the  Presbyterians,  although  they  had  helped  to  restore  the  king ; 
and  they  now  suffered  a  sharp,  though  short,  persecution,  for  nearly 
all  determinedly  refused  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the 
act.  They  were  forbidden  to  hold  their  customary  kirk  meetings 
or  sessions ;  their  clergy  were  fined  or  sent  to  jail  for  not  conform- 
ing; and  in  the  end.  nearly  all  were  expelled  from  their  ministry  and 
their  homes,  because  they  would  not  submit  to  be  ordained  by  the 


THE     RESTORATION  131 

1680-1687 

bishop,  while  some  were  altogether  banished  from  the  country. 
But  most  held  their  ground,  living  in  the  old  neighborhood  as  best 
they  could,  and  secretly  kept  religion  alive  among  their  flocks.  A 
large  number  of  the  lay  members — sober,  industrious,  and  peaceful 
people — unwilling  to  live  in  a  country  where  they  were  not  per- 
mitted to  practice  their  religion,  sold  their  property  and  emigrated 
to  the  Puritan  colonies  of  New  England.  But  by  unyielding  firm- 
ness the  Presbyterians  at  length  obtained  toleration  and  justice. 

Ormond,  who  was  lord  lieutenant  (except  for  a  short  time) 
during  Charles  II. 's  reign,  ruled  wisely  and  moderately,  and  under 
him  the  country  prospered  materially.  The  Catholics  were  not  so 
severely  treated  as  formerly,  and  except  at  the  time  of  the  Titus 
Gates  plot  in  England,  when  Dr.  Plunket,  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 
was  falsely  charged  and  executed,  did  not  suffer  greatly. 

James  II.,  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  succeeded  his  brother 
Charles  in  1685,  and  his  accession  gave  great  joy  to  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland,  and  corresponding  alarm  to  the  Protestants.  He  soon 
entered  on  the  dangerous  task  of  restoring  the  Catholic  religion  in 
both  countries,  and  entered  on  it  in  a  manner  so  openly  ofYensive, 
harsh,  and  illegal,  that  the  whole  Protestant  population  rose  up 
against  him.  Colonel  Richard  Talbot,  a  strict  Catholic,  of  a  dispo- 
sition over-zealous  and  imprudent,  was  sent  to  Ireland  as  com- 
mander of  the  forces,  and  was  created  Earl  of  Tirconnell.  As  a 
sort  of  set-off,  the  king  appointed  his  own  brother-in-law.  Lord 
Clarendon,  who  w^as  a  Protestant,  lord  lieutenant  in  place  of 
Ormond.  But  Clarendon  was  a  mere  shadow ;  Tirconnell  was  the 
real  ruler,  and  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  disarm  the  militia,  who 
were  all  Protestants.  He  disbanded  thousands  of  Protestant  sol- 
diers and  officers,  and  replaced  them  with  Catholics.  Most  of  the 
Protestant  officers  went  to  Holland,  and  were  provided  for  by 
William,  Prince  of  Orange,  under  whom  they  afterward  fouglit 
against  King  James  in  Ireland.  Tirconnell  also  appointed  Catholic 
judges,  sheriffs,  and  magistrates,  making  room  for  them  when 
necessary  by  the  removal  of  Protestants.  He  made  an  attempt  to 
have  the  Act  of  Settlement  repealed,  but  in  this  he  failed. 

At  length  Clarendon  was  removed  and  Tirconnell  was  ap- 
pointed lord  lieutenant  to  rule  Ireland  (1687),  which  created  quite 
a  panic  among  the  Protestants  all  over  the  countrv,  so  that  hun- 
dreds fled  from  their  homes  to  England  and  elsewhere.  Ulster 
especially  was  in  a  miserable  state  of  inquietude :  Protestants  and 


132  IRELAND 

1687-1688 

Catholics  looked  on  each  other  with  suspicion  and  fear;  the  memo- 
ries of  the  mutual  cruelties  of  1641  were  revived  and  exaggerated, 
and  terrific  rumors  ran  rife  of  intended  murders  and  massacres. 
In  the  midst  of  all  these  alarms  in  Ireland,  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  whose  wife  was  King  James's  daughter  Mary,  landed  in 
England  on  November  5  to  claim  the  throne;  and  King  James, 
deserted  by  numbers  of  his  officers,  who  went  over  to  William's 
army,  fled  to  France  in  December,  in  haste,  secrecy,  and  abject 
terror. 

Nearly  all  the  people  of  England  were  Protestants,  who,  after 
the  experience  of  James's  recent  proceedings,  came  to  the  determina- 
tion to  have  a  Protestant  king,  and  they  allowed  William  to  take 
possession  without  opposition.  In  Ireland  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  were  Catholics,  who  did  not  want  a  Protestant  king.  They 
stood  up  for  King  James,  so  that  William  had  to  fight  for  Ireland, 
and  thus  began  the  war  between  the  two  kings,  known  as  the  War 
of  the  Revolution. 

Seeing  the  turn  things  had  taken  in  England,  Tirconnell 
adopted  immediate  measures  to  secure  Ireland  for  King  James. 
He  raised  a  large  irregular  untrained  army  of  Catholics,  and  took 
possession  of  the  most  important  places  all  through  the  country, 
garrisoning  them  with  Jacobite  troops.  In  the  south,  where  the 
Protestants  were  few,  there  was  little  or  no  resistance;  but  it  was 
otherwise  in  Ulster,  where  the  people  of  two  important  centers, 
Derry  and  Enniskillen,  refused  to  admit  his  garrisons;  and  several 
other  towns  yielded  only  through  force.  Derry  was  then  a  small 
town,  nearly  in  the  form  of  an  oblong  half  a  mile  in  length,  stand- 
ing on  a  hill  rising  over  the  left  or  Donegal  bank  of  the  River 
Foyle,  four  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  was  encompassed  by  a  wall, 
and  communication  was  kept  up  with  the  opposite  or  eastern  side 
by  a  ferry,  for  there  was  no  bridge.  This  little  town  was  then  of 
small  importance,  but  was  soon  to  become  famous  by  the  defense  it 
now  made,  and  the  consequences  which  that  defense  had  upon  the 
future  operations  of  the  war. 

The  excitement  among  the  Protestants  of  Ireland  caused  by 
the  proceedings  of  Tirconnell  continued  to  increase.  In  Derry  the 
news  of  the  approach  of  the  Jacobite  army  caused  immense  commo- 
tion. The  aldermen  and  magistrates  were  in  great  doubt  whether 
they  should  open  the  gates,  or  embark  on  a  course  of  resistance 
that  seemed  desperate.     But  the  humbler  classes  were  in  no  doubt 


THE     RESTORATION  133 

1688 

at  all:  they  had  their  minds  made  up,  for  they  believed  the  whole 
proceeding  was  merely  a  trap  to  secure  their  destruction  all  the 
more  easily  on  the  next  day  but  one,  and  they  clamored  to  have  the 
gates  shut.  When  the  army  appeared,  a  few  young  apprentices 
boldly  shut  the  gates  against  it,  whereupon  it  marched  away.  Later 
the  town  consented  to  admit  two  companies  from  the  Jacobite  army, 
on  the  stipulation  that  they  were  all  to  be  Protestants,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Lundy.  When  the  news  came  from  England 
of  William's  successful  progress,  together  with  the  letters  of  encour- 
agement from  him,  the  town  no  longer  hesitated. 

They  renounced  their  allegiance  to  King  James,  and  publicly 
proclaimed  William  and  Mary  as  their  sovereigns.  Lundy  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  William,  with  the  others,  but  he  did  so 
with  evident  reluctance  and  not  in  public. 


Chapter    XXIV 

THE  SIEGE  OF  DERRY.     1689 

WHEN  King  James  heard  of  Tirconnell's  active  proceed- 
ings, and  found  that  his  cause  had  been  taken  up  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  country,  he  mustered  up  courage  and 
sailed  for  Ireland,  landing  at  Kinsale  on  March  12,  1689,  with  a 
number  of  French  ofificers  and  Irish  refugees,  and  a  supply  of 
money,  arms,  and  ammunition,  furnished  by  King  Louis  of  France, 
but  beyond  that,  with  no  army  properly  so  called.  The  com- 
mander of  the  expedition  was  a  French  general,  Marshal  Rosen. 
Among  the  Irish  who  accompanied  the  king  the  most  distinguished 
was  Patrick  Sarsfield,  afterward  Earl  of  Lucan — a  great  soldier 
and  an  honorable,  high-minded  gentleman,  who  was  quite  as  much 
respected  by  his  opponents  as  by  his  own  party.  His  personal 
appearance  corresponded  with  his  character,  for  he  had  a  noble 
countenance,  and  stood  over  six  feet  high,  straight  and  well 
proportioned. 

The  king  arrived  in  Dublin  on  March  24,  and  shortly  after 
set  out  for  the  north  in  the  belief  that  it  would  yield  at  his  coming. 
Hamilton  had  driven  the  Protestants  to  refuge  in  Derry,  and 
James  made  his  journey  through  a  miserable  country.  Eundy  was 
for  surrendering  Derry:  he  was  only  half-hearted  in  William's 
cause,  and  did  not  believe  the  town  could  be  successfully  defended. 
He  treacherously  sent  back  two  regiments  of  reinforcements  from 
England,  and  connived  at  the  withdrawal  of  the  prominent  men. 
The  inhabitants  at  first  were  not  all  of  the  same  mind,  for  "  while 
some  were  framing  terms  of  surrender,  others  were  placing  guns 
on  the  wall  for  defense."  Most  of  the  authorities,  with  the  gov- 
ernor at  their  head,  were  inclined  to  yield,  Avhile  the  populace,  who 
iiad  possession  of  the  walls  and  gates,  were  all  for  fighting.  The 
king  approached  the  south  gate  with  his  staff,  expecting  to  see  it 
fly  open,  but  instead  of  a  greeting,  he  heard  a  fierce  shout  of  "  No 
surrender,'"  and  a  volley  was  fired  from  one  of  the  bastions  which 
Icilled  an  ofticcr  by  his  side,  on  which  he  immediately  retired  out  of 

134. 


SIEGEOFDERRY  135 

1689 

range.  But  negotiations  still  went  on,  and  Lundy  and  a  section  of 
the  magistrates  endeavored  to  bring  about  a  surrender.  The  arrival 
of  Murray  with  some  horse  decided  the  town  for  resistance.  Lundy 
escaped,  and  Murray,  Major  Baker,  and  the  Rev.  George  Walker 
became  the  leaders. 

The  die  was  now  cast,  and  it  was  resolved  to  defend  the  city 
to  the  last.  It  was  badly  prepared  to  stand  a  siege;  the  defenses 
were  not  strong ;  the  defenders  were  mere  working  people,  ignorant 
of  war;  there  were  thousands  of  refugees,  and  the  stock  of  pro- 
visions was  low. 

But  with  all  these  discouragements  the  determination  of  the 
Derry  people  remained  unshaken.  Under  Murray's  directions  they 
formed  themselves  into  companies  and  regiments,  appointed  officers 
to  command  them,  took  their  turns  at  guarding  and  fighting,  obeyed 
the  orders  of  their  newly  appointed  commanders,  and  faced  dangers 
and  hardships  with  the  utmost  docility  and  cheerfulness.  When 
all  arrangements  had  been  completed  it  was  found  that  there  were 
about  7000  fighting  men,  led  by  340  officers — eight  regiments  in  all, 
each  under  a  colonel.  The  men  worked  incessantly  strengthening 
the  defenses.  Two  guns  were  planted  on  the  flat  roof  of  the  cathe- 
dral, which  greatly  annoyed  the  surrounding  Jacobite  detachments 
during  the  whole  siege,  and  at  every  gate  was  placed  a  gun  which 
commanded  the  approach. 

As  to  King  James,  when  he  found  all  his  proposals  rejected 
he  returned  to  Dublin,  leaving  the  direction  of  the  siege  to  the 
French  General  Maumont,  with  Hamilton  second  in  command.  He 
summoned  a  parliament  in  Dublin,  at  which  a  number  of  measures 
were  hastily  passed.  It  was  ordained  that  there  should  be  full 
freedom  of  worship  for  all  religious  denominations — a  creditable 
act.  The  Act  of  Settlement  was  repealed,  which  meant  that  the 
new  settlers  would  have  to  restore  the  lands  to  the  old  owners,  but 
with  compensation  when  necessary,  an  act  of  questionable  value  at 
that  time.  More  than  2000  persons  were  attainted,  and  their  lands 
declared  confiscated,  for  having  joined  the  Prince  of  Orange — an 
act  that  has  earned  much  blame  for  this  Parliament.  But  all  this 
active  legislation  came  to  nothing,  for  before  there  was  time  to 
enforce  it.  King  James  nnd  liis  government  were  superseded.  To 
meet  current  expenses  a  lax  was  levied  on  estates.  But  as  this  was 
not  enough,  the  king  issued  1)ase  coins  to  the  amount  of  nearly 
1,000,000/.,  which  ruined  inanv,  and  was  of  little  real  avail.     On 


136  IRELAND 


1689 


April  1 8,  1689,  the  siege  of  Derry  began  in  good  earnest,  and  from 
that  day  forward  was  carried  on  with  great  energy. 

In  one  important  respect  the  besiegers  were  much  worse  off 
than  the  besieged — namely,  in  the  supply  of  war  materials.  Their 
arms  were  damaged  and  useless,  and  ammunition  was  lacking. 
The  army,  moreover,  which  was  composed  of  raw  recruits,  was 
scattered.  Both  parties  were  badly  prepared,  the  one  to  carry  on 
the  siege,  the  other  to  resist  it.  But  there  was  one  all-important 
difference :  the  besiegers  had  a  fair,  though  not  a  sufficient,  supply 
of  food,  while  the  defenders,  toward  the  end  of  the  siege,  had  to 
fight  while  starving. 

Maumont  and  Hamilton  felt  assured  that  the  town  would  yield 
to  the  first  serious  attack,  and  they  began  their  work  vigorously. 
The  first  artillery  fire  was  disconcerting,  but  the  people  soon  became 
used  to  it.  Religious  enthusiasm,  too,  came  to  their  aid,  animating 
them  in  fighting  and  helping  to  sustain  them  in  their  privations. 
Anglicans  and  Dissenters  attended  at  the  same  church  at  different 
hours  of  the  day,  when  their  turn  off  military  duty  came  round, 
and  the  clergy  of  each  denomination  conducted  divine  service  and 
preached  to  their  respective  congregations.  Among  the  most  active 
was  the  Rev.  George  Walker,  w-ho  kept  constantly  exhorting  the 
people  during  the  siege,  from  both  pulpit  and  rampart. 

On  April  21  Murray  made  a  sally  with  a  party  of  horse  and 
foot,  but  they  were  received  with  great  determination  by  the  Irish, 
and  after  a  long  and  furious  struggle  had  to  withdraw,  Murray 
barely  escaping  with  his  life.  Yet  the  besiegers  suffered  severely 
in  this  fight,  for  they  lost  200  men,  and  their  general,  Maumont, 
was  killed  by  ^Murray  in  a  personal  encounter.  Hamilton  then  took 
the  chief  command. 

During  ^Vlay  and  June  the  fighting  w-ent  on — sallies  and  at- 
tempts to  storm,  desperate  conflicts  and  great  loss  of  life — both 
parties  fighting  with  equal  obstinacy.  On  June  4  Hamilton  deter- 
mined to  capture  the  important  point,  Windmill  Hill.  His  men 
were  met  by  an  unexpected  and  continuous  fire,  yet  they  pressed  on. 
They  were  repulsed  at  the  wall,  and  Captain  Butler  was  captured, 
and  400  men  were  lost. 

After  this  repulse,  a  terrible  fire  of  bombs,  great  and  small, 
was  kept  up  on  the  town  for  several  days,  doing  immense  damage, 
but  to  no  effect. 

Seeing  all  active  efforts  foiled,  Hamilton  resolved  to  turn  the 


SIEGEOFDERRY  137 

1689 

siege  into  a  blockade,  and  starve  the  garrison  to  surrender.  On 
the  land  side  he  had  the  town  quite  surrounded,  and  every  entrance 
strictly  guarded,  so  that  the  townsmen  found  it  impossible  to  hold 
any  communication  with  the  outside,  or  to  obtain  any  supplies. 
Their  hopes  now  lay  in  help  from  England — the  help  that  William 
had  promised.  Every  day  watchmen  took  station  on  the  church 
tower,  anxiously  looking  out  to  sea  for  relief ;  and  at  length,  in  the 
middle  of  June,  they  shouted  down  the  joyous  news  that  thirty  ships 
were  sailing  up  Lough  Foyle.  Signals  were  made  from  masthead 
and  steeple,  but  were  not  understood  by  either  side,  till  at  last  a  bold 
volunteer  brought  news  that  deliverance  was  at  hand,  for  Major 
General  Kirke,  the  commander  of  the  fleet,  had  come  to  relieve  the 
town.  But  the  hope  was  short-lived ;  for  Kirke,  having  sailed  as  far 
as  Culmore  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Foyle,  which  was  held  by  the 
Jacobites,  was  afraid  to  enter  the  river,  and  the  hearts  of  the  towns- 
men sank  when  they  beheld  the  whole  fleet  retiring.  Yet,  during 
all  this  time  of  miserable  suspense  and  suffering,  they  never  relaxed 
their  vigilance,  but  kept  working  incessantly,  repairing  the  old  forti- 
fications and  constructing  new  ones,  while  the  women  every- 
where encouraged  the  men  and  bore  hardship  and  hunger  uncom- 
plainingly. 

In  order  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  ships  to  bring  relief. 
Hamilton  now  caused  a  great  boom  to  be  made  of  strong  cables 
and  timber  logs,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and  stretched 
tightly  across  the  river  two  miles  below  the  town,  strengthening  it 
by  huge  stakes  driven  into  the  river-bed  and  by  boats  full  of  stones 
sunk  to  the  bottom  beside  them.  "  This,"  says  Walker,  "  did  much 
trouble  us,  and  scarce  left  us  any  hopes.*'  The  strict  blockade  told 
at  last.  Provisions  began  to  run  short  among  people  of  all  classes. 
The  weather  was  excessively  hot,  and  hunger  was  followed  by  dis- 
ease and  many  deaths,  and  they  could  not  get  news  of  their  plight 
to  the  fleet. 

Toward  the  end  of  June  King  James,  growing  impatient  at 
the  length  of  the  siege,  sent  jMarshal  Rosen  to  take  command,  with 
instructions  to  adopt  more  vigorous  measures.  The  new  com- 
mander invested  the  place  still  more  closely  and  made  many  furious 
assaults,  but  all  in  vain ;  the  defenders  were  as  determined  as  ever, 
and  repelled  all  his  attacks.  Becoming  furious  at  last  at  the  obsti- 
nate and  prolonged  defense,  Rosen  resorted  to  an  inhuman  plan  to 
force  surrender.     Having  collected  over  a   thousand   Protestants, 


138  IRELAND 

1689 

he  placed  them  between  the  army  and  the  town  walls,  to  starve  or 
be  taken  into  the  town.  The  reply  of  the  town  was  the  erection  of  a 
gallows  upon  the  ramparts  for  the  execution  of  the  Jacobite  pris- 
oners then  in  their  hands.  Whereupon  these  prisoners  besought 
Hamilton  to  save  them  by  inducing  Rosen  to  let  the  poor  people  go : 
"  We  are  all  w'illing  to  die,"  they  say,  ''sw-ord  in  hand  for  his  majesty 
[King  James]  ;  but  to  suffer  like  malefactors  is  hard:  nor  can  we 
lay  our  blood  to  the  charge  of  the  garrison,  the  governor  and  the 
rest  having  used  and  treated  us  with  all  civility  imaginable."  After 
two  days  Rosen,  becoming  alarmed,  permitted  the  people  to  depart, 
although  many  had  died  in  that  time. 

Meantime  Kirke  made  no  move.  For  more  than  six  weeks  he 
lay  idle,  with  abundance  of  food  stowed  away  in  his  ships,  though 
he  could  plainly  see  the  signal  of  distress  flying  from  the  cathedral 
steeple,  while  the  townspeople  were  famishing,  driven  to  eat  horse- 
flesh, dogs,  grease,  and  garbage  of  every  kind.  The  garrison  fared 
no  better.  Yet  these  brave  fellows — ragged  and  starving — stood 
resolutely  to  their  posts,  and  uttered  no  word  of  complaint.  But 
with  all  this  constancy,  hunger  and  disease  w-ere  playing  sad  havoc 
with  the  cooped-up  people,  and  must  before  many  days  bring  about 
what  force  failed  to  accomplish. 

When  matters  seemed  hopeless  the  garrison  offered  to  sur- 
render, but  as  the  terms  were  not  satisfactory  the  siege  went  on. 
Kirke,  having  received  peremptory  orders,  sent  two  merchantmen 
and  a  frigate  to  relieve  the  town  on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  July  28. 
Macaulay  describes  the  relief  graphically : 

"  The  sun  had  just  set;  the  evening  service  in  the  cathedral  was 
over,  and  the  heart-broken  congregation  had  separated,  when  the 
sentinels  on  the  towers  saw  the  sails  of  three  vessels  coming  up  the 
Foyle.  Soon  there  was  a  stir  in  the  Irish  camp.  The  besiegers 
were  (jn  the  alert  for  miles  along  both  shores.  The  ships  were  in 
extreme  peril,  for  the  river  was  low-,  and  the  only  navigable  channel 
ran  very  near  to  the  left  bank,  where  the  headquarters  of  the  enemy 
had  been  fixed,  and  where  the  batteries  were  most  numerous. 
.  .  .  At  lengtli  the  little  squadron  came  to  the  place  of  peril. 
Then  tlie  Muuntjoy  took  the  lead  and  went  right  at  the  boom.  The 
huge  barricade  cracked  and  gave  way,  but  the  shock  was  such  that 
the  Mount  joy  rebounded  and  stuck  in  the  mud.  A  yell  of  triumph 
arose  from  the  ])anks ;  tlie  Irish  rushed  to  their  boats,  and  were 
I)rci)aring  to  Ixjard,  but  the  Dartmouth  poured  on  them  a  well- 


SIEGE     OF     DERRY  139 

1689 

directed  broadside,  which  threw  them  into  disorder.  Just  then 
the  Phoenix  dashed  into  the  breach  which  the  Mount  joy  had  made, 
and  was  in  a  moment  within  the  fence.  Meanwhile  the  tide  was 
rising  fast.  The  Motintjoy  began  to  move  and  soon  passed  safe 
within  the  broken  stakes  and  floating  spars.  But  her  brave 
master  was  no  more.  A  shot  from  one  of  the  batteries  had  struck 
him,  and  he  died  by  the  most  enviable  of  all  deaths,  in  sight 
of  the  city  which  was  his  birthplace,  which  was  his  home,  and 
which  had  just  been  saved  by  his  courage  and  self-devotion  from 
the  most  frightful  form  of  destruction.  The  night  had  closed  in 
before  the  conflict  at  the  boom  began,  but  the  flash  of  the  guns  was 
seen  and  the  noise  heard  by  the  lean  and  ghastly  multitude  which 
covered  the  walls  of  the  city.  When  the  Moimtjoy  grounded  and 
when  the  shout  of  triumph  arose  from  the  Irish  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  the  hearts  of  the  besieged  died  within  them.  One  who 
endured  the  unutterable  anguish  of  that  moment  has  told  us  that 
they  looked  fearfully  livid  in  each  other's  eyes.  Even  after  the 
barricade  had  been  passed  there  was  a  terrible  half  hour  of  sus- 
pense. It  was  ten  o'clock  before  the  ships  arrived  at  the  quay. 
The  whole  population  was  there  to  welcome  them.  A  screen  made 
of  casks  filled  with  earth  was  hastily  thrown  up  to  protect  the  land- 
ing-place from  the  batteries  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  then 
the  work  of  unloading  began.  First  were  rolled  on  shore  barrels  con- 
taining six  thousand  bushels  of  meal.  Then  came  great  cheeses, 
casks  of  beef,  flitches  of  bacon,  kegs  of  butter,  sacks  of  peas  and  bis- 
cuits, ankers  of  brandy.  Not  many  hours  before,  half  a  pound  of 
tallow  and  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of  salted  hide  had  been 
weighed  out  with  niggardly  care  to  every  fighting  man.  The  ration 
which  each  now  received  was  three  pounds  of  flour,  two  pounds  of 
beef,  and  a  pint  of  peas.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  with  what  tears 
grace  was  said  over  the  suppers  of  that  evening.  There  was  little 
sleep  on  either  side  of  the  wall.  The  bonfires  shone  bright  along 
tlie  whole  circuit  of  the  ramparts.  The  Irish  guns  continued  to 
roar  all  night,  and  all  night  the  bells  of  the  rescued  city  made 
answer  to  the  Irish  guns  with  a  peal  of  joyous  defiance.  Through 
the  whole  of  the  next  day  the  batteries  of  the  enemy  continued  to 
play.  But  soon  after  the  sun  had  again  gone  down,  flames  were 
seen  rising  from  the  camp,  and  when  August  i  dawned,  a  line  of 
smoking  ruins  marked  the  site  lately  occupied  by  the  huts  of  the 
besiegers,  and  the  citizens  saw,  far  (jff,  the  long  columns  of  pikes 


140  IRELAND 

1689 

and  standards  retreating  up  the  left  branch  of  the  Foyle  toward 
Strabane." 

Of  the  7000  fighting  men  of  Derry,  only  4300  survived,  and 
the  mortality  among  the  non-combatants  was  still  greater ;  probably 
10,000  altogether  perished  during  the  siege,  chiefly  of  hunger  and 
disease.  The  Irish  army,  though,  not  so  badly  off  for  food,  suffered 
almost  as  much  as  the  defenders  from  want  of  camping  and  sleeping 
accommodation,  from  exposure  and  hardship  night  and  day,  and 
from  unwholesome  food  and  sickness:  while,  on  account  of  the 
deficient  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition,  more  of  them  fell  in  the 
several  conflicts  than  of  their  opponents — so  that  the  mortality 
among  them  was  almost  as  great  as  it  was  in  the  town. 

The  ancient  walls  of  Derry  are  still  perfect,  though  the  town 
has  extended  far  beyond  them ;  some  of  the  old  guns  are  reverently 
preserved ;  and  on  the  site  of  one  of  the  bastions  rises  a  lofty  pillar 
surmounted  by  a  statue  of  the  Rev.  George  Walker. 

Enniskillen,  the  other  Williamite  stronghold,  was  threatened 
by  the  approach  of  an  Irish  army ;  but  the  Enniskilleners,  not  wait- 
ing for  a  siege,  marched  forth  on  the  day  before  the  relief  of  Derry, 
and  intercepted  and  utterly  defeated  them  at  Newtownbutler. 

Sarsfield  was  not  present  at  Derry;  he  commanded  a  detach- 
ment at  Sligo,  but  on  hearing  of  these  disasters,  he  retired  to  Ath- 
lone ;  and  now  Ulster  was  nearly  all  in  the  hands  of  the  Williamites. 


Chapter  XXV 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE.     1690 

THE  siege  of  Deny  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  struggle. 
King  WilHam  had  now  leisure  to  look  to  Ireland,  and  he 
sent  over  the  Duke  of  Schomberg — then  above  eighty 
years  of  age — who  landed,  in  August,  1689,  at  Bangor,  with  an 
army  of  about  15,000  men.  After  a  siege  of  eight  days  Carrick- 
fergus  Castle  was  surrendered  to  him,  and  he  settled  down  for  some 
time  near  Dundalk,  in  an  unhealthful  position,  entrenching  himself 
in  a  fortified  camp,  which  soon  became  a  vast  hospital,  where  he  lost 
fully  half  of  his  army  by  sickness. 

In  the  following  year  King  William  came  over  to  conduct  the 
campaign  in  person.  He  landed  at  Carrickfergus  on  June  14,  1690, 
and  immediately  joined  Schomberg.  About  half  of  the  united 
army  were  foreigners,  excellent  soldiers,  a  mixture  of  French, 
Dutch,  Danes,  Swedes,  and  Prussians  or  Brandenburghers. 

James  had  advanced  from  Dublin  to  Dundalk,  but  fell  back 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Boyne.  with  his  center  at  the  village  of 
Oldbridge,  three  miles  above  Drogheda,  whither  William  followed 
and  took  up  his  position  on  the  north  bank.  The  two  banks  rise 
on  both  sides,  forming  low  hills,  on  wdiich  were  placed  the  camps, 
and  the  river  flowed  peacefully  in  the  valley  beneath.  The  Irish 
army,  consisting  of  about  26,000  men,  w-as  largely  composed  of 
recruits,  badly  drilled  and  badly  armed,  having  only  twelve  French 
field  guns  as  their  sole  supply  of  artillery,  with  the  crowning  ill- 
fortune  of  being  led  by  King  James.  They  were  opposed  by  a 
more  numerous  army — about  40,000  men — well  trained  and  well 
supplied  with  all  necessaries,  including  a  fine  artillery  train  of  fifty 
field  guns,  and  commanded  by  William,  a  man  full  of  energy  and 
determination,  and  one  of  the  best  generals  of  his  time. 

On  the  evening  of  June  30  William  had  a  narrow  escape, 
being  shot  in  the  shoulder,  but  later  rode  through  the  camp  to 
assure  the  army  of  his  safety.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conduct 
of  James  on  this  same  evening — the  evening  before  the  battle — 

Ml 


112  IRELAND 

1690 

was  enough  to  damp  the  spirits  of  any  army.     He  was  flighty  and 
undecided,  and  seemed  anxious  only  for  his  own  safety. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  July  i  William's  army  began  to 
move:  by  his  order  each  man  wore  a  sprig  of  green  in  his  cap, 
while  the  Jacobites  wore  little  strips  of  white  paper.  "  The  day," 
says  Story,  the  army  chaplain,  who  w^as  present,  "  was  very  clear, 
as  if  the  sun  itself  had  a  mind  to  see  what  would  happen."  The 
river  was  low,  for  the  tide  was  at  ebb  and  the  weather  had  been 
dry,  and  there  were  several  fords  so  shallow  as  to  be  passable  with- 
out much  difficulty.     The  task  to  be  accomplished  was  to  force  the 


passage  of  these  fords  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Irish.  Ten 
thousand  men  were  sent  to  cross  the  river  above  the  armies  and 
attack  the  Irish  in  the  rear  so  as  to  cut  off  their  chance  of  retreat 
at  the  Pass  of  Duleek. 

King  William,  having  waited  till  an  express  messenger  had 
come  from  Douglas  to  say  he  had  succeeded  in  forcing  a  passage, 
issued  his  orders  to  cross  the  river  at  several  fords,  one  near  the 
village  of  Oldbridge,  straight  between  the  two  opposing  camps,  and 
the  others  lower  down  toward  Drogheda.  The  Blue  Dutch  guards 
and  the  iM-ench  Huguenots  led  the  crossing  and  gained  the  Irish 
side  despite  the  spirited  charge  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  at  this  point,  just  beside  the  village  of  Oldbridge.  that 
old  Duke  Schombcrg,  rallying  a  ]r.>dy  of  Huguenots  who  had  been 


T  H  E     B  O  Y  N  E  143 

1690 

broken  by  the  Irish  and  were  rushing  back  toward  the  river,  was 
killed  by  a  musket  bullet  which  struck  him  in  the  neck.  His  body 
was  immediately  carried  across  the  river  to  the  English  camp. 
About  the  same  time  Walker  of  Derry  was  shot  dead  near  the  ford. 
While  this  struggle  was  going  on,  William  crossed  w^ith  some  horse 
at  the  lowest  ford,  threatened  the  Irish  right  flank,  and  entered  into 
a  desperate  conflict.  There  were  continual  charges,  countercharges, 
advances,  and  retreats  on  both  sides,  and  for  a  time  the  battle 
seemed  doubtful.  But  no  amount  of  bravery  could  compensate  for 
the  disadvantages  under  which  the  Irish  fought  that  day,  so  that 
late  in  the  evening  they  were  forced  to  give  way,  and  still  fighting, 
they  began  their  retreat. 

King  James,  after  issuing  his  orders  in  the  morning,  retired  to 
the  little  church  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  of  Donore,  from  which 
he  viewed  the  conflict  in  safety.  He  took  no  further  part  in  the 
battle;  and  early  in  the  evening,  wdien  he  saw  that  the  day  was 
going  against  him,  he  fled  in  haste  w^ith  a  bodyguard  of  200  horse, 
before  the  battle  was  over,  leaving  his  men  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves, and  reached  Dublin  a  little  after  nine  o'clock  that  same  even- 
ing. The  main  body  of  the  Irish  army,  making  good  the  Pass  of 
Duleek,  in  spite  of  the  attempts  of  the  Williamite  generals  to  inter- 
cept them,  retreated  southward  in  good  order  to  Dublin,  and  thence 
to  Limerick.  Drogheda,  which  was  garrisoned  by  King  James's 
troops,  capitulated  on  honorable  terms  immediately  after  the  battle. 

Sarsfield  was  present  at  the  Boyne,  but  he  held  a  subordinate 
command,  and  was  given  no  opportunity  of  taking  any  part  in  the 
battle ;  according  to  some  he  commanded  the  200  horse  that  escorted 
James  to  Dublin.  Conversing  with  a  Williamite  olTicer  about  the 
Boyne  some  time  afterward,  he  exactly  pictured  the  true  state  of 
things  when  he  exclaimed :  "  Change  kings  with  us  and  we  will 
fight  you  over  again !  "' 

Having  given  the  chief  command  to  Tirconnell,  James  em- 
barked at  Kinsale  and  landed  at  Brest,  the  first  bearer  of  the  news 
of  his  own  defeat.  William  arrived  at  Dublin  and  took  possession 
of  the  city  on  Sunday,  July  6.  After  this,  Kilkenny,  Duncannon, 
and  Waterford  surrendered  in  quick  succession. 


Chapter  XXVI 

THE  SIEGE  OF  LIMERICK.     1690 

CONCENTRATING  their  whole  force  at  Limerick  and  Ath- 
lone,  the  Irish  now  determined  to  make  the  Shannon  their 
line  of  defense,  and  to  stand  at  bay  in  these  two  strongholds. 
On  July  17,  General  Douglas,  with  12,000  men,  arrived  before 
Athlone,  which  was  the  great  important  pass  into  Connaught. 
Colonel  Richard  Grace,  the  governor,  successfully  held  it  against 
Douglas  for  a  week,  when  the  latter  withdrew  at  the  news  of  Sars- 
field's  approach,  and  joined  William,  who  was  at  this  time  leisurely 
making  his  way  toward  Limerick. 

The  king  with  the  united  army  arrived  before  the  walls  on 
Saturday,  August  9,  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne.  He  was  not  yet  quite  prepared  for  effective  siege  opera- 
tions, as  the  whole  of  his  artillery  had  not  come  up;  but  a  great 
siege  train  was  on  its  way  from  Dublin,  guarded  by  a  convoy  of 
two  troops  of  horse,  with  heavy  cannons,  plenty  of  ammunition 
and  provisions,  tin  boats  or  pontoons  for  crossing  the  river,  and 
other  necessary  war  materials. 

While  the  citizens  of  Limerick  were  busily  engaged  preparing 
for  defense,  a  French  deserter  from  William's  camp  brought  intelli- 
gence of  the  approach  of  the  siege  train,  on  which  Sarsfield,  who 
commanded  the  cavalry,  instantly  determined  to  intercept  the  train 
and  convoy — an  uncertain  and  perilous  venture,  requiring  courage, 
coolness,  and  dash.  Riding  to  a  point  fifteen  miles  above,  he 
crossed  at  a  very  deep  ford,  guided  by  peasants.  Here  he  remained 
in  hiding  a  day. 

When  too  late  the  king  heard  news  of  Sarsfield's  enterprise, 
and  sent  out  a  party  to  protect  the  siege  train.  The  latter  was  in 
fancied  security,  but  Sarsfield  approached,  found  out  the  password, 
and  was  in  the  center  of  the  encampment  before  the  English  knew 
it;  and  a  flight  was  the  result. 

Sarsfield  could  not  bring  away  the  guns  or  any  other  hea\y 


SIEGE     OF    LIMERICK  146 

1690 

articles,  knowing  he  was  sure  to  be  pursued,  but  the  horses  were 
captured,  and  all  portable  things  were  stowed  away  in  pockets  and 
saddle-bags.  There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose,  and  while  some  of 
the  party  smashed  up  the  tin  boats,  others  hastily  filled  the  cannons 
with  powder  and  buried  their  muzzles  in  the  earth,  piling  over  them 
the  powder  packets,  wagons,  ammunition,  and  provisions,  in  a  great 
heap.  A  long  fuse  was  fired  when  the  party  had  got  to  a  safe  dis- 
tance, and  the  whole  train  was  blown  up  in  one  terrific  explosion. 
Sarsfield  escaped  from  the  party  William  sent  out,  and  was  received 
in  Limerick,  where  the  garrison  was  much  encouraged. 

On  the  English  side  it  was  correspondingly  discouraging. 
"  Tliis  news,"  says  Story,  the  Williamite  historian  and  army  chap- 
lain, who  was  present  and  has  left  an  account  of  the  siege,  "  was 
very  unwelcome  to  everybody  in  the  camp,  the  very  private  men 
shewing  a  greater  concern  at  the  loss  than  you  would  expect  from 
such  kinds  of  people."  Notwithstanding  the  disaster  of  the  siege 
train,  the  king,  after  a  delay  of  about  a  week,  pressed  on  the  siege, 
for  he  had  procured  from  Waterford  two  large  guns  and  a  mortar ; 
and  in  the  wreck  at  Ballyneety,  two  of  the  great  cannons  were 
found  uninjured.  This  week's  breathing  spell  was  turned  to  good 
account  by  the  citizens  in  pushing  on  the  repair  of  their  old  defenses 
by  every  possible  contrivance. 

At  this  time  Limerick  was  the  second  city  in  Ireland.  The 
principal  part,  called  the  English  town,  stood  upon  the  King's 
Island,  which  is  enclosed  by  two  branches  of  the  Shannon,  and  is 
about  a  mile  in  length.  Here  was  the  old  cathedral,  the  dwellings 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  and  the  principal  buildings  and  houses 
of  business.  On  the  mainland,  at  the  County  Limerick,  or  south 
side,  was  another  and  smaller  part  of  the  city,  called  the  Irish  town. 
The  English  town  was  connected  by  stone  bridges  with  both  sides 
of  the  river. 

The  place  was  so  badly  prepared  for  a  siege  that  the  French 
general  Lauzun  laughed  at  the  idea  of  defending  it,  saying  that  "  it 
could  be  taken  with  roasted  apples."  He  refused,  as  he  said,  to 
sacrifice  the  lives  of  the  Frenchmen  intrusted  to  him  in  what  he 
considered,  or  pretended  to  consider,  a  hopeless  contest.  But  in 
truth  he  was  sick  of  this  Irish  war,  with  all  its  hardships  and  priva- 
tions, and  he  longed  to  get  back  to  France.  The  Duke  of  Tircon- 
nell,  who  was  old  and  sickly  and  weary  of  turmoil,  voted  with  him 
to  surrender  the  city.     But  Sarsfield  was  of  a  different  mind :  he 


146  IRELAND 

1690 

was  for  defense,  and  he  was  heartily  seconded  by  a  brave  French 
captain  named  Boisseleau  or  Boileau.  They  infused  their  spirit 
into  the  native  troops,  and  it  was  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  defend 
the  city;  whereupon  Lauzun  and  Tirconnell  marched  to  Galway  with 
all  the  French  troops,  bringing  away  a  great  quantity  of  ammuni- 
tion sorely  needed  by  the  citizens.  And  thus  the  two  chief  men 
entrusted  with  the  guardianship  of  Limerick  deserted  their  posts, 
leaving  the  Irish  to  defend  it  as  best  they  could.  Boileau,  having 
been  appointed  governor,  set  about  repairing  and  strengthening  the 
old  w-alls,  towers,  and  forts.  The  citizens  vied  with  the  soldiers, 
and  even  the  women  and  children  assisted  with  the  greatest  spirit 
and  cheerfulness. 

William  was  attended  by  Ginkle,  Douglas,  and  others  of  his 
best  generals,  and  had  an  effective  army  of  about  26,000  men,  well 
supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition,  while  the  Irish  army  of  defense 
numbered  about  25,000,  scarcely  half  of  them  armed.  The  siege 
began  on  August  9,  1690.  A  summons  to  surrender  w'as  answered 
by  a  determined  reply  to  defend  the  city.  The  withdrawal  of  the 
French,  and  the  feeble  defenses,  seemed  to  indicate  that  a  serious 
resistance  would  not  be  encountered.  On  August  17  the  William- 
ite  men  began  to  dig  trenches  to  enable  them  to  get  near  the  walls, 
while  the  Irish,  on  their  part,  did  everything  in  their  pow'er  to 
retard  the  work. 

As  soon  as  the  artillery  had  been  got  into  position,  the  heavy 
guns  began  to  play;  and  in  a  short  time  the  high  towers  on  the 
walls  were  leveled,  which  freed  those  working  in  the  trenches  from 
the  sharpshooters.  After  this  the  fire  was  mainly  concentrated  on 
a  particular  part  of  the  wall  near  St.  John's  Gate,  with  the  object 
of  making  a  breach;  while  shells,  red-hot  shot,  and  a  sort  of  destruc- 
tive explosive  called  carcasses,  which  ran  along  the  streets  blazing 
and  spitting  out  fragments  of  iron  and  glass,  were  poured  in  among 
the  houses  without  intermission,  so  that  the  city  was  set  on  fire  in 
several  places,  and  a  great  store  of  hay  was  burned  to  ashes.  "  I 
remember,"  says  Story,  "  we  were  all  as  well  pleased  to  see  the  town 
flaming  as  could  be,  which  made  me  reflect  upon  our  profession  of 
soldiery  not  to  be  overcharged  with  good  nature."  Many  soldiers 
and  citizens  were  killed  by  the  showers  of  missiles ;  but  with  danger 
and  death  all  round  them  from  balls  and  carcasses  and  fires,  the 
spirits  of  the  people  never  flagged,  and  neither  soldier  nor  citizen 
called  for  surrender.     Great  numbers  of  women  and  children  were 


SIEGE    OF     LIMERICK  147 

1690 

sent  for  safety  to  the  King's  Island  and  to  the  Clare  side  of  the  river, 
where  they  encamped  in  such  shelters  as  they  were  able  to  put  up. 

The  defenders  had  a  strong  fort  outside  the  wall,  opposite  St. 
John's  Gate,  from  which  they  so  harassed  the  besiegers  that  it  w^as 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  attempt  its  capture.  A  large  party 
advanced  to  the  attack,  and  after  an  obstinate  hand-to-hand  fight 
of  several  hours,  the  Irish  w'ere  forced  to  retire  and  the  English  took 
possession ;  but  both  sides  lost  heavily  in  this  prolonged  encounter. 

During  the  whole  time  the  king  directed  the  siege  operations, 
often  exposing  himself  to  great  danger  with  the  utmost  coolness, 


Tfiotrta»'I»lc 


<^  ^.  ^  UMERICK. 


and  having  one  or  two  narrow  escapes.  While  the  king  worked 
with  tireless  energy  on  the  outside.  Sarsfield  and  Boileau  were 
equally  watchful  and  active  in  the  city  directing  the  defense.  But 
despite  woolsacks,  sallies,  and  resistance  of  every  kind,  a  great 
breach  thirty-six  feet  wide  w^as  made  near  St.  John's  Gate  after  ten 
days'  incessant  battering,  and  through  this  it  was  determined  to 
make  an  assault  and  storm  the  city. 

At  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon  of  August  27,  under  a 
blazing  sun  and  cloudless  sky,  a  storming  party  of  over  500  grena- 
diers, supported  in  the  rear  by   10.000  men.  consisting  of  se\'cii 


14*  IRELAND 

1090 

regiments  of  foot  and  a  large  body  of  horse,  leaped  up  from  the 
trenches  at  a  signal  of  three  guns  fired  from  Cromwell's  Fort,  and 
made  a  rush  for  the  breach,  throwing  their  hand-grenades  and  firing 
their  muskets  among  the  defenders.  "  This,"  says  Story,  "  gave 
the  Alarm  to  the  Irish,  who  had  their  Guns  all  ready  and  discharged 
great  and  small  Shot  upon  us  as  fast  as  'twas  possible:  Our  men 
were  not  behind  them  in  either:  so  that  in  less  than  two  Minutes 
the  Noise  was  so  terrible,  that  one  would  have  thought  the  very 
Skies  to  rent  in  sunder.  This  was  seconded  with  Dust,  Smoke, 
and  all  the  terrors  that  the  Art  of  Man  could  invent  to  ruin  and 
undo  one  another;  and  to  make  it  more  uneasie,  the  day  itself  was 
excessive  hot  to  the  By-standers,  and  much  more  sure  in  all  respects 
to  those  upon  action." 

The  storming  party  succeeded  in  crossing  the  trench  outside 
the  broken  wall;  and  after  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  conflict  drove 
the  Irish  before  them,  only  to  encounter  a  second  rampart  Boileau 
had  thrown  up.  The  terrible  fire  of  cartridge  shots  and  bullets 
from  cannon  and  muskets  caused  them  to  waver,  but  the  continued 
reinforcements  from  behind  pushed  them  on. 

Then  the  citizens,  even  the  women,  when  they  became  aware 
that  the  assailants  were  prevailing,  rushed  down  in  multitudes  by 
common  impulse  from  their  view  places,  and  seizing  every  weapon 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  dashed  into  the  midst  of  the  uproar 
and  joined  eagerly  in  the  fray. 

For  four  hours  in  the  hot  afternoon  this  dreadful  conflict  raged. 
Tlie  thickly-packed  masses  advanced  and  yielded  in  turn  through 
the  streets;  a  close  and  furious  struggle,  where  all  strained  their 
utmost  to  force  back  the  opposing  ranks,  and  no  one  thought  of 
personal  danger.  The  rattle  of  small  arms  and  the  roar  of  cannon 
never  ceased  for  an  instant,  and  a  cloud  of  smoke  and  dust  that 
veiled  the  sunlight  rose  slowly  over  the  city,  and  was  wafted  along 
by  the  gentle  autumn  breeze,  till  it  disappeared  behind  a  range  of 
hills  six  or  eight  miles  off. 

At  last  the  assailants,  unable  to  withstand  the  tremendous  and 
unexpected  resistance,  yielded,  and  turning  round,  rushed  back 
through  the  breach  in  headlong  confusion,  and  in  a  few  moments 
the  old  city  was  cleared  of  every  foreign  soldier  except  the  killed 
and  wounded.  King  William,  having  witnessed  the  repulse  of  his 
best  troops,  "  Wetit  to  his  Camp  very  much  concerned,"  says  Story, 
"  as  indeed  was  the  whole  army,  for  you  might  have  seen  a  mixture 


SIEGE     OF    LIMERICK  149 

1690 

of  Anger  and  Sorrow  in  everybody's  countenance."  Over  2000 
of  his  men  were  killed,  while  the  loss  of  the  Irish  was  comparatively 
small.  It  was  a  matter  of  consideration  v^hether  another  attempt 
should  be  made ;  but  as  the  rainy  season  was  coming  on,  which  was 
sure  to  bring  disease  among  his  troops,  the  king  thought  it  more 
prudent  to  raise  the  siege.  He  returned  to  England,  leaving  Gen- 
eral Ginkle  in  command:  and  on  August  31  the  army  marched 
away  from  the  city.  The  siege  had  lasted  three  weeks;  and  the 
heroic  defenders  of  Limerick  had,  almost  without  ammunition,  and 
with  crumbling  old  walls  for  a  defense,  repulsed  a  well-equipped 
veteran  army,  directed  by  a  great  general  celebrated  all  over 
Europe,  who  had  never  before  been  foiled  by  any  fortress,  however 
strong. 

Lauzun  and  Tirconnell,  who  were  at  this  time  in  Galway, 
were  no  doubt  ill-pleased  to  hear  of  the  successful  defense  of  Lim- 
erick, which  they  had  deserted  in  its  worst  time  of  need,  and  fearing 
the  displeasure  of  King  Louis,  they  both  embarked  for  France  in 
order  to  have  the  first  story. 

In  September,  1690,  Cork  surrendered,  after  a  fierce  struggle, 
to  the  skillful  generalship  of  John  Churchill,  afterward  the  cele- 
brated Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  Kinsale  followed.  The  capture 
of  these  two  important  places,  which  more  than  counterbalanced 
the  successful  defense  of  Limerick,  ended  the  campaign  of  1690. 


Chapter  XXVII 

ATHLONE    AND   AUGHRIM.     1691 

NO  military  events  of  importance  took  place  in  Ireland  for 
about  ten  months  after  the  siege  of  Limerick,  except 
the  capture  of  Cork  and  Kinsale.  But  the  war  was 
carried  on  without  intermission  all  over  the  country,  from  Cavan 
southward,  by  detached  parties  of  Williamite  forces,  who  were 
resisted  everywhere,  with  varying  success,  partly  by  detachments 
of  Irish  regular  troops,  and  partly  by  bands  of  rapparees,  a  sort  of 
irregular  volunteers  who  were  looked  upon  as  mere  robbers  by 
the  English  captains  and  were  hanged  whenever  caught.  So  long 
as  the  two  armies  had  been  kept  together  in  large  bodies,  the  men 
were  under  the  usual  discipline,  outrage  was  repressed,  and  the 
ordinary  laws  of  warfare  were  fairly  observed.  But  when  they 
were  broken  up  into  roving  bands,  discipline  was  all  but  abandoned, 
and  they  committed  cruel  outrages  everywhere  on  the  people.  The 
account  left  us  by  the  Williamite  chaplain,  Story,  of  the  mode  of 
warfare,  of  the  numerous  conflicts  and  daily  executions  by  the 
Williamite  captains,  and  of  the  general  state  of  the  country,  is  a 
fearful  record  of  bloodshed  and  misery. 

Tirconnell,  who  had  sailed  from  Galway  to  France  after  the 
siege  of  Limerick,  as  already  related,  returned  with  some  money 
and  stores  in  January,  i6gi,  and  as  he  was  King  James's  lord  lieu- 
tenant, he  resumed  authority.  In  May  a  French  fleet  sailed  up  the 
Shannon,  with  provisions,  clothing,  and  military  stores,  but  no  men 
or  money,  bringing  Lieutenant  General  St,  Ruth,  a  brave  and  ex- 
perienced French  officer,  but  cruel,  haughty,  and  excessively  con- 
ceited, to  take  command  of  the  Irish  army,  by  direction  of  King 
James,  who  was  at  this  time  in  France.  The  choice  was  unfortu- 
nate; Sarsfield  would  have  done  better,  but  the  Irish  served  loyally 
nevertheless. 

After  the  failure  at  Limerick,  the  next  attempt  was  to  be  made 
on  Athlone,  which  was  almost  equally  important,  and  on  June  19 
Ginkle  appeared  before  it  with  an  army  of  18,000  men.     The  main 

]50 


ATHLONE  AND  AUGHRIM       151 

1691 

body  of  the  Irish  was  encamped  at  the  Connaught  side,  about  a 
mile  west  of  the  town.  They  were  commanded,  for  the  time  being, 
by  Sarsfield,  for  St.  Ruth,  the  commander-in-chief,  had  not  yet 
arrived,  but  Sarsfield  could  not  undertake  any  important  movement 
in  his  absence. 

Athlone  was  built  on  both  sides  the  Shannon,  and  Ginkle  soon 
took  possession  of  the  English  town.  On  the  evening  of  that  day 
St.  Ruth  arrived  in  the  camp  and  took  measures  to  defend  the  Irish 
town,  but  the  English  soon  battered  to  pieces  the  earthworks  and 
part  of  the  castle.  When  an  attempt  was  made  to  cross  the  Shan- 
non some  distance  from  the  town,  it  was  successfully  resisted  by 
the  Irish,  so  nothing  remained  but  to  force  the  passage  of  the 
bridge.  Soon  by  mere  pressure  of  numbers  the  besiegers  obtained 
possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  bridge,  though  not  till  very 
many  of  them  had  been  killed,  whereupon  the  defenders  abandoned 
it,  but  broke  down  one  arch  at  the  Connaught  side. 

To  cross  that  broken  arch  was  now  Ginkle's  task.  His  cannon 
having  been  turned  on  the  farther  bank,  so  that  as  one  of  the  spec- 
tators. Colonel  Felix  O'Neill  of  the  Irish  army,  tells  us,  "  a  cat 
could  scarce  appear  without  being  knocked  on  the  head  by  great 
or  small  shot,'"  a  party,  under  cover  of  a  rude  wooden  shelter, 
dragged  a  number  of  planks  along  the  bridge,  and  succeeded  in 
throwing  them  across  the  chasm ;  and  Ginkle's  men  were  preparing 
to  step  forward  on  the  perilous  journey.  Twice  did  volunteer 
parties  of  Irish  try  to  pull  down  the  planks,  and  the  second  time 
they  succeeded.  Ginkle,  after  several  attempts,  gave  up  all  idea  of 
forcing  his  way  across  the  bridge. 

Before  giving  up  the  siege  he  was  finally  prevailed  upon  to  try 
another  plan,  and  volunteers  were  told  off  to  cross  the  river  at  a 
seemingly  impossible  ford.  St.  Ruth  scoffed  at  the  idea  that  the 
river  could  be  crossed  there,  and  rested  in  fancied  security.  The 
soldiers  plunged  into  the  deep  and  rapid  river  twenty  abreast,  and 
with  great  resolution  made  their  way  across  through  fire  and 
smoke,  and  landing  with  hardly  any  opposition,  some  of  them  laid 
planks  over  tlie  bridge,  while  others  fixed  some  boats  that  had  been 
kept  ready,  so  as  to  form  another  complete  bridge  across.  The 
small  party  of  Irish  had  been  taken  quite  by  surprise,  and  in  less 
than  half  an  hour  Ginkle  was  master  of  the  town.  Thus  Athlone 
was  captured  almost  within  sight  of  the  whole  Irish  army,  when  a 
little  care  and  \-igilaiicc  woul'i   iia\-e  rendered  tlie  passage  of  tlic 


152  IRELAND 

1691 

river  impossible,  and  the  lieroism  of  the  noble  fellows  who  had 
sacrificed  their  lives  to  tear  down  the  planks  went  for  nothing. 

The  Irish  officers  bitterly  reproached  St.  Ruth  for  the  loss  of 
Athlone,  so  that  with  good  reason  he  became  alarmed,  and  fearing 
the  displeasure  of  his  master  King  Louis,  he  now  resolved  to  stake 
all  on  the  result  of  a  single  battle.  Falling  back  on  the  village  of 
Aughrim  in  Galway,  he  determined  to  make  a  stand  there,  and  with 
great  judgment  he  selected  an  excellent  position  beside  the  village, 
with  a  sluggish  stream  and  a  morass  in  the  low  ground  in  front, 
which  was  impassable  for  horse,  but  might  be  crossed  by  foot.  At 
both  ends  were  two  narrow  passes  through  the  bog,  both  well 
guarded.  The  slope  of  the  hill  in  front,  down  to  the  morass,  was 
intersected  by  fences,  which  were  all  lined  by  Irish  marksmen. 

The  battle  was  not  begun  until  near  midday,  as  the  morning 
had  been  foggy.  Ginkle  tried  first  to  force  the  pass  of  Uraghree, 
but  was  severely  repulsed,  and  was  about  to  withdraw  until  the 
next  day,  when,  observing  what  he  believed  to  be  some  disorderly 
movements  on  the  Irish  side,  he  resolved  to  renew  the  attempt.  A 
more  numerous  body  was  now  sent  to  Uraghree  with  the  object  of 
drawing  St.  Ruth's  forces  from  the  pass  at  Aughrim,  and  at  half- 
past  four  the  battle  began  afresh. 

The  plan  succeeded,  for  large  bodies  of  Irish  were  withdrawn 
from  the  Aughrim  Pass  to  help  to  defend  Uraghree;  but  when 
Ginkle  attempted  to  advance  across  the  stream  and  bog,  he  was 
again  and  again  driven  back.  St.  Ruth  was  elated  at  the  seeming 
victory,  but  his  death  soon  changed  the  whole  fortunes  of  the  day. 
No  one  knew  what  orders  to  give,  for  St.  Ruth  had  let  none  of  his 
officers  into  his  confidence.  Sarsfield  had  been  placed  in  a  subordi- 
nate position  with  directions  not  to  move  the  reser\-es.  As  a  result 
the  Irish  were  forced  to  give  way,  and  many  were  massacred.  In 
proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged,  this  was  the  most  destructive 
battle  in  the  whole  war. 

Galway  submitted  on  July  21,  and  Sligo  in  September,  both 
on  favorable  terms,  their  garrisons  being  allowed  to  march  to 
Limerick. 


Chapter  XXVIII 

SECOND    SIEGE    AND   TREATY    OF    LIMERICK.     1691-1693 

GENERAL  GINKLE,  after  his  victory  at  Aughrim, 
marched  southward  for  another  attempt  on  Limerick. 
Tirconnell  proceeded  to  put  the  city  in  a  state  of  defense, 
but  he  died  of  apoplexy  on  August  14,  on  which  the  chief  com- 
mand devolved  on  Sarsfield.  On  August  30,  1691,  just  a  year  after 
the  memorable  defense,  the  second  siege  began.  Ginkle's  first 
operation  was  a  bombardment  with  sixty  cannon  and  nineteen 
mortars,  from  which  were  poured  bombshells,  red-hot  balls,  and 
carcasses,  which  caused  much  destruction. 

On  September  2.2  Ginkle  made  an  attack  on  the  bridge  and 
drove  the  Irish  back.  There  was  now  a  short  truce,  and  negotia- 
tions were  set  on  foot  for  capitulation.  Both  sides  were  anxious  to 
end  the  war.  Ginkle  saw  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  take  the  city 
in  reasonable  time.  To  capture  it  at  once  by  storm  he  considered 
impracticable — having  probably  the  experience  of  last  year  in  his 
mind,  and  he  was  in  great  distress  for  provisions,  so  that  if  there 
was  any  further  delay,  he  must,  as  he  said  in  one  of  his  letters, 
either  starve  or  begone.  The  cold  and  rainy  season  was  sure  to 
bring  pestilence  among  the  troops ;  at  the  same  time  it  was  rumored 
that  aid  was  coming  from  France.  The  arrival  of  the  French  might 
prolong  the  struggle  indefinitely,  the  consequence  of  which  no  man 
could  foresee,  for  William  and  his  government  were  at  this  time 
in  a  very  unsettled  position.  For  all  these  weighty  reasons,  Ginkle 
was  very  anxious  to  end  the  war,  and  willing  to  grant  any  reason- 
able terms  as  the  price  of  surrender. 

Sarsfield,  on  his  part,  saw  no  hope  in  further  unaided  resist- 
ance, and  decided  to  treat  with  "  arms  in  his  hands."  Accordingly, 
on  October  3  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  by  Ginkle  and  the 
English  lords  justices  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  by 
Sarsfield,  now  Earl  of  Lucan,  and  by  others ;  and  it  was  confirmed 
by  King  William  a  short  time  afterward.    This  ended  the  War 

153 


154  IRELAND 

1691 

of  the  Revolution,  and  William  and  Mary  were  acknowledged 
sovereigns  of  Ireland.  A  few  days  afterward  a  French  fleet  sailed 
up  the  Shannon:  i8  ships  of  the  line  and  20  transports,  with  3000 
soldiers,  200  officers,  and  arms  and  ammunition  for  10,000  men; 
but  Sarsfield  refused  to  receive  them,  and  honorably  stood  by  the 
treaty. 

The  Treaty  of  Limerick  consisted  of  two  parts,  one  civil,  the 
other  military;  containing  altogether  forty-two  articles.  The  mili- 
tary articles  were  faithfully  kept,  but  the  civil  part  was  violated  by 
the  government,  although  King  William  was  not  to  blame. 

The  most  important  of  the  civil  articles  were  these :  The  Irish 
Catholics  were  to  have  the  same  religious  liberty  as  was  consistent 
with  the  existing  law  of  the  land,  or  as  they  enjoyed  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.  (which  was  the  one  period  since  the  Reformation 
when  they  had  most  liberty)  :  and  "  the  oath  to  be  administered 
to  such  Catholicks  as  submit  to  Their  Majesties  Government,  shall 
be  the  Oath  [of  Allegiance]  afore-said,  and  no  other"  (ninth 
article).  Those  in  arms  for  King  James  to  retain  the  estates  they 
possessed  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  and  to  be  permitted  to  freely 
exercise  their  callings  and  professions. 

The  principal  military  articles  were:  The  garrison  to  be  per- 
mitted to  march  out  of  the  city  with  arms  and  baggage,  drums 
beating  and  colors  flying.  Those  officers  and  soldiers  who  wished 
might  go  to  any  foreign  country,  the  government  to  provide  them 
with  ships ;  those  who  chose  might  join  the  army  of  William  and 
Mary.  Ginkle  was  anxious  to  keep  these  soldiers  in  the  king's 
army,  but  only  1000  joined,  and  2000  got  passes  for  their  homes. 
More  than  20,000  sad  exiles — among  them  Sarsfield — went  to 
Brest  and  entered  the  French  service.  These  formed  the  nucleus 
of  the  famous  Irish  Brigade,  who  afterward  distinguished  them- 
selves on  many  a  battlefield — Fontenoy,  Ramillies,  Blenheim,  Lan- 
den,  and  others — always  led  by  Irish  officers,  voluntary  exiles  like 
themselves.  Snrsfield,  after  brilliant  service,  fell  mortally  wounded, 
in  the  moment  of  victory,  at  the  battle  of  Landen  in  1693,  where  he 
commanded  the  left  wing  of  the  French  army.  It  is  stated  that 
while  lying  on  the  ground,  seeing  his  hand  stained  with  his  own 
blood,  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  that  this  was  for  Ireland!"  There  was 
at  this  time  and  for  long  after,  a  vast  exodus  of  the  very  flower  of 
the  Irish  people  to  the  Continent.  Between  1691  and  1745  it  is 
reckoned  that  450,000  Irishmen  died  in  the  service  of  France;  and 


TREATY     OF     LIMERICK  155 

1691-1693 

many,  who  if  they  had  remained  at  home  would  have  Hved  in  ob- 
scurity and  degradation,  attained  positions  of  influence  and  power 
in  every  country  on  the  Continent.  The  war  had  cost  the  EngHsh 
about  seven  milhons,  representing  probably  fifty  millions  pounds 
to-day,  besides  vast  destruction  of  houses,  cattle,  and  other  kinds 
of  property. 

King  William  was  kindly  disposed  toward  the  Irish,  and  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  treaty,  he  restored  a  good  part  of  their 
estates,  and  granted  many  pardons.  But  he  rewarded  his  followers 
with  vast  tracts  of  land.  He  created  Ginkle  Earl  of  Athlone,  and 
gave  him  26,000  acres;  and  to  others  he  gave  much  larger  es- 
tates. Altogether  he  made  seventy-six  land  grants  to  his  own 
people. 

Lord  Sydney,  the  lord  lieutenant,  summoned  a  parliament, 
which  met  in  Dublin  on  October  5,  1692,  a  year  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  war:  the  first  held  since  1665,  with  the  exception  of  that  of 
King  James.  It  was  exclusively  Protestant,  for  the  good  reason 
that  almost  the  first  thing  done  was  to  frame  an  oath,  to  be  taken 
by  all  members  of  both  houses,  that  the  chief  doctrines  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  were  false,  though  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  had, 
just  a  year  before,  provided  that  the  Catholics  were  to  be  required 
to  take  only  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Sydney,  as  representing 
the  king,  opposed  the  measure,  but  it  was  carried  in  spite  of 
him,  whereupon  all  the  Catholics  present  in  both  houses  walked 
out. 

In  the  course  of  its  proceedings  this  parliament  declared  that 
it  was  independent  of  that  of  England ;  and  though  granting  a  sup- 
ply of  money  to  the  king,  it  rejected  a  money  bill  sent  from  Eng- 
land, on  the  ground  that  it  had  not  been  originated  in  the  Irish 
Commons.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  long 
contest  between  the  English  and  Irish  Parliaments,  to  be  related 
in  subsequent  chapters.  Sydney  was  so  indignant  at  this  refractory 
proceeding  that  he  twice  prorogued  this  Parliament,  which  was 
finally  dissolved  on  November  5,  1693. 

There  was  now  another  confiscation,  as  will  be  further  related 
in  the  next  chapter.  In  less  than  a  century  there  had  been  three 
great  confiscations  in  Ireland,  the  old  proprietors  being  in  all  cases 
dispossessed  :  the  first  after  the  Geraldine  and  O'Xeill  rebellions ;  the 
second  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  and  the  third  after  the  conciuest 
by  King  William.     The-?  tlnee  comprised  the  whole  island,  except 


166  IRELAND 

1693 

the  estates  of  about  half  a  dozen  families  of  English  blood.  More- 
over, the  three  confiscations  sometimes  overlapped;  so  that  large 
portions  were  confiscated  twice,  and  some  three  times  over,  within 
that  period.  As  the  result  of  all,  only  about  a  seventh  of  the  land 
of  all  Ireland  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholics.  The  Catholics 
of  old  English  blood  were  involved  in  this  general  ruin,  so  far  as 
their  numbers  went,  as  well  as  those  of  the  native  Celtic  race. 


Chapter  XXIX 

THE   PENAL   LAWS.     1 695-1714 

BpF'ORE  resuming  our  regular  narrative  it  is  necessary  that 
.  we  here  turn  aside  to  describe  the  penal  and  repressive  legis- 
'lation  that  followed  the  capitulation  of  Limerick,  which  will 
be  done  in  this  chapter  and  the  next. 

The  Irish  Catholics  were  now  crushed  and  dispirited;  they 
were  quite  helpless,  for  their  best  men  had  gone  to  France,  and 
all  hope  of  resistance  was  at  an  end.  Yet  the  Treaty  of  Limerick 
remained,  and  they  had  the  consolation  of  feeling  that  in  that  agree- 
ment they  had  secured  tolerable  conditions.  But  here  they  were 
doomed  to  a  woeful  disappointment.  The  Irish  Parliament,  with 
the  full  concurrence  of  the  English  authorities,  refused  to  carry 
out  the  treaty  in  its  most  important  parts ;  though,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  was  purchased  by  most  valuable  concessions  on  the  part  of  the 
Irish  commanders,  and  had  been  solemnly  guaranteed,  first  by 
Ginkle  and  the  Irish  lords  justices,  and  next  by  King  William  him- 
self. "  Since  the  Irish,"  says  Story,  "  had  it  still  in  their  power 
[before  the  treaty  was  made]  to  give  us  the  Town  or  to  keep  it  to 
themselves,  I  see  no  Reason  why  they  ought  not  to  make  a  Bargain 
for  it,  and  expect  the  performance  of  their  Contract,  which  Their 
Majesties  have  been  graciously  pleased  to  ratifie  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  England."  We  may  fairly  conjecture  that  when  Story 
(who,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  one  of  King  William's  chaplains) 
wrote  these  remarkable  words  in  1691,  he  had  some  suspicions  and 
fears  that  the  treaty  would  not  be  kept  and  that  he  wrote  them  in 
a  generous  spirit  to  advocate  its  faithful  fulfillment. 

The  violation  of  the  treaty  greatly  displeased  King  William, 
who  would  have  honorably  kept  to  his  part  of  the  agreement,  as 
vSarsfield  did  on  his  side  when  he  refused  to  admit  the  French  fleet. 
For  William  was  not  disposed  to  oppress  anyone  on  account  of 
religion ;  and  he  was  often  heard  to  declare  that  he  came  over  to 
deliver  the  Protestants,  but  not  to  persecute  the  Catholics.  It  does 
not  appear,  indeed,  that  he  ever  redeemed  his  pledge,  made  in  the 
first  article  of  the  treaty  to  try  to  procure  further  religious  se- 

1,57 


ins  IRELAND 

1695 

curity  for  the  Catholics;  but,  no  doubt,  he  thought  it  would  be 
useless — as  it  certainly  would  have  been — to  attempt  to  move  either 
the  Irish  or  the  English  Parliament  in  that  direction. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution  the  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  was  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  small  Protestant 
minority,  who  also  possessed  almost  the  whole  of  the  land  of  the 
country,  and  they  held  nearly  all  the  offices  of  trust  and  emolument. 
And  now  not  only  did  they  refuse  to  carry  out  the  treaty,  but  they 
went  much  farther  by  passing  a  number  of  penal  laws,  which,  so 
long  as  they  remained  in  force,  would  keep  down  the  Catholics,  who 
formed  four-fifths  of  the  population,  and  would  secure  for  the 
Protestant  minority  the  great  possessions  and  privileges  they 
already  enjoyed. 

Before  1695  there  were  many  penal  enactments  against  Irish 
Catholics,  with  the  main  object  of  compelling  them  to  abandon 
their  own  religion  and  to  adopt  the  doctrines  and  forms  of  worship 
of  the  Reformation;  but  they  were  passed  only  at  long  intervals, 
and  the  authorities,  for  various  reasons,  were  not  always  anxious, 
or  were  not  able,  to  have  them  carried  out.  But  after  that  date  they 
came  in  quick  succession,  growing  more  and  more  severe  as  time 
went  on,  till  they  reached  their  worst  phases  chiefly  in  the  first 
years  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  partly  in  the  reign  of  George 
11. ;  and  they  were  generally  enforced,  so  far  as  lay  in  the  power  of 
the  authorities.  These  repressive  laws  were  mostly  the  work  of  the 
Irish  Parliament,  but  the  English  Parliament  sometimes  stepped  in 
and  lent  its  aid.  The  code  remained  in  full  force  for  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  century,  when  it  began  to  be  relaxed,  though  by  very 
small  degrees  at  first.  Gradually,  and  very  slowly,  the  worst  of  the 
enactments  were  repealed,  one  by  one,  as  will  be  noticed  in  the 
proper  places  as  we  go  along,  till,  with  the  exception  of  some  par- 
ticulars, the  Emancipation  Act  of  1829  put  an  end  to  the  disabilities 
of  Irish  Catholics.  It  will  be  convenient  to  bring  the  leading  en- 
actments of  the  whole  Penal  Code  into  this  chapter,  though  it  will 
oblige  us  to  run  a  little  in  advance  in  point  of  time. 

The  Parliament  of  1692,  as  related  in  the  last  chapter,  led  the 
way  by  framing  an  oath  to  exclude  Catholics  from  Parliament, 
contrary  to  tlie  ninth  article  of  the  treaty.  But  the  really  active 
])eiial  legislation  v>as  entered  upon  by  the  Parliament  which  met 
in  Dublin  in  1695.  Their  first  proceeding  was  to  introduce  a  bill 
"  for  the  confirmation  of  Articles  made  at  the  Treatv  of  Limerick," 


P  E  N  A  L     L  A  W  S  159 

1695-1697 

and  thereupon  they  confirmed  all  the  minor  provisions  of  the  treaty 
and  omitted  all  the  important  ones.  This  bill  passed  easily  through 
the  House  of  Commons,  but  it  was  vigorously  resisted  in  the  upper 
House  by  a  powerful  minority  of  Irish  lords — all  Protestants,  be 
it  remembered — who  vehemently  condemned  such  breach  of  faith. 
And  when,  in  spite  of  opposition,  the  bill  was  at  length  passed,  a 
number  of  them,  including  seven  Protestant  bishops,  signed  a 
strong  protest  against  it.  Having  thus  secured  what  amounted  to 
the  rejection  of  the  treaty,  this  Parliament,  during  the  sessions  of 
1695  and  1697,  passed  a  number  of  penal  laws,  of  which  the 
following  are  the  most  important : 

Catholic  schoolmasters  were  forbidden  to  teach,  either  in 
schools  or  in  private  houses,  and  Catholic  parents  were  forbid- 
den to  send  their  children  to  any  foreign  country  to  be  educated, 
from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  care  was  taken  to  deprive  Catholics 
— as  such — altogether  of  the  means  of  education. 

Although  the  treaty  secured  to  the  Catholic  gentry  of  certain 
specified  counties  the  possession  of  their  estates,  the  Parliament 
dispossessed  them  all,  and  seized  their  lands,  which  they  gave  to 
others. 

Catholics  were  to  deliver  up  their  arms,  and  if  a  magistrate 
suspected  that  there  were  any  in  the  house  of  a  Catholic,  he  might 
make  a  search,  and  if  refused  admission,  might  break  open  the 
door.  If  a  Catholic  had  a  valuable  horse,  any  Protestant  might 
take  possession  of  it  by  offering  5/. — which  answers  to  about  30/. 
of  our  present  money. 

The  existing  parish  priests  were  not  to  be  disturbed;  but  all 
had  to  be  registered  in  a  government  book,  and  had  to  give  security 
for  good  behavior.  About  a  thousand  were  registered ;  and  these 
were  allowed  to  celebrate  3*Iass,  but  they  could  keep  no  curates.  It 
was  ordained  that  all  other  Catholic  clergy — bishops,  Jesuits, 
friars,  monks,  and  the  regular  clergy  of  every  order — should,  under 
penalties,  quit  the  kingdom  by  ]\Iay  i,  1698,  and  any  who  returned 
were  adjudged  guilty  of  high  treason,  of  which  the  punishment  was 
death.  This  would,  of  course,  after  some  time,  leave  the  people 
altogether  without  priests,  for  according  as  the  existing  clergy  died 
out  there  would  be  none  to  take  their  places,  since  a  priest  could  not 
be  ordained  without  a  bishop.  Several  hundreds  of  those  against 
whom  tlie  decree  was  directerl  left  the  country,  but  many  remaincrl. 
including  some  bishops,  who  disguised  and  concealed  lliemselvcs  as 


160  IRELAND 

1697-1704 

best  tliey  could.  It  was  ordered  that  no  Catholic  chapel  should  have 
either  steeple  or  bells.  There  were  many  other  stringent  measures 
passed  by  this  Parliament,  which  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate. 

This  was  the  first  installment  of  the  Penal  Code;  but  it  was 
followed  by  much  worse.  When,  a  few  years  later,  the  Duke  of 
Ormond  (grandson  of  Ormond  of  the  Confederate  times)  came  over 
as  lord  lieutenant,  the  Plouse  of  Commons  petitioned  him  for  a 
further  extension  of  the  penal  legislation,  though  the  reason  why  is 
hard  to  make  out,  for  the  Catholic  people  had  been  quiet  and  sub- 
missive, and  had  given  no  provocation  whatever.  Yet  Ormond 
consented,  and  in  1704  an  act  was  passed,  of  which  the  following 
were  the  most  important  provisions.  If  the  eldest  son  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  with  landed  property  declared  himself  a  Protestant,  he 
became  the  owner  of  all  his  father's  land,  and  the  father  sank  to 
the  position  of  life-tenant;  and  if  any  other  child,  no  matter  how 
young,  professed  that  he  was  a  Protestant,  he  was  placed  under  a 
Protestant  guardian,  and  the  father  had  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of 
separate  maintenance  and  education.  One  very  bad  feature  of  these 
provisions  was  that  they  encouraged  baseness,  by  tempting  children 
to  the  unnatural  course  of  turning  against  their  own  parents  for  the 
sake  of  mere  gain.  If  the  wife  of  a  Catholic  became  a  Protestant, 
she  could  claim  separate  support  from  his  estate,  and  one-third  of 
all  his  other  property.  No  Catholic  could  be  a  guardian  to  a  child, 
so  that  when  a  father  who  had  young  children  felt  himself  dying, 
his  last  hours  were  troubled  by  the  consciousness  that  his  children 
were  likely  to  be  brought  up  Protestants. 

No  Catholic  was  permitted  to  purchase  land,  or  even  to  take  a 
lease  of  land  for  life  (which  was  called  a  freehold  lease),  or  for 
longer  than  thirty-one  years;  and  if  land  descended  to  a  Catholic 
as  heir  to  some  former  owner,  or  if  land  was  left  to  him  by  will,  in 
neither  case  could  he  accept  it.  The  profit  of  a  Catholic's  farm, 
over  and  above  the  rent,  was  never  to  exceed  one-third  of  that 
rent;  and  if  any  Protestant  proved  that  the  profit  realized  was  more 
than  that,  he  could  take  possession  of  the  farm.  The  intention  of 
all  these  provisions  was  to  make  it  impossible  for  Catholics  ever 
again  to  own  any  part  of  the  land  of  the  country. 

No  person  could  vote  at  an  election  for  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment without  taking  an  oath  that  the  Catholic  religion  was  false. 
A  Catholic  could  not  hold  any  office  either  in  the  civil  or  military 
service  without  taking  the  same  oath  and  submitting  to  the  "  Sac- 


PENAL     LAWS  161 

1704-1714 

ramental  Test,"  that  is,  receiving-  the  Sacrament  on  Sundays  in 
some- Protestant  place  of  worship,  according- to  the  rite  of  the  Es- 
tabhshed  Church.  This  last  item  of  the  Code  is  what  is  called  the 
Test  Act,  and  it  applied  to  the  Presbyterians  and  other  Non-con- 
formists as  well  as  to  the  Catholics,  for  they  have  special  rites  of 
their  own. 

Later  on — in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  George  IL — the 
Catholics  were  wholly  disfranchised,  that  is,  they  were  forbidden  to 
vote  at  an  election  under  any  circumstances  whatever.  No  Catholic 
was  to  be  permitted  to  come  to  live  in  the  cities  of  Limerick  or 
Galway,  but  those  who  were  residing  in  them  at  the  time  were  al- 
lowed to  remain,  provided  they  gave  security  for  good  behavior, 
but  this  law  soon  became  a  dead  letter,  for  it  was  found  impossible 
to  have  it  carried  out. 

Rewards  were  offered  for  the  discovery  of  bishops,  Jesuits, 
unregistered  priests,  and  schoolmasters,  and  whenever  such  a  re- 
ward was  earned,  the  Catholics  had  to  pay  it.  Very  determined 
measures  were  taken,  moreover,  to  have  this  law  enforced.  In  the 
last  year  of  Queen  Anne's  reign  (1714),  the  English  Parliament 
extended  to  Ireland  the  Schism  Act,  which  ordained  that  no 
person  could  teach  a  school  unless  he  had  a  license  from  the 
Protestant  bishop,  and  this  license  could  not  be  granted  unless  the 
applicant  submitted  to  the  Sacramental  Test. 

In  the  foregoing  sketch,,  only  the  main  provisions  of  the  Penal 
Code  have  been  enumerated. 

These  laws  were  mainly  intended  to  suppress  the  Catholic 
religion.  But  they  had  no  effect  whatever  in  making  the  people 
conform,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  twenty  years  later,  we  find 
the  Irish  Parliament  complaining  of  the  continued  increase  of 
Catholicity,  and  proposing  otlier  measures  for  its  suppression  of  so 
violent  a  character  that  the  English  authorities  refused  to  sanction 
them. 

The  Catholics  were  not  the  only  people  who  suffered  under 
this  legislation.  In  a  very  little  time  the  "  Test  Act  "  and  the 
", Schism  Act"  were  brought  to  bear  against  the  Ulster  Presby- 
terians, who  were  now  subjected  to  bitter  persecution,  for  they 
refused  either  to  apply  to  the  bishop  for  licenses  to  teach  in  schools, 
or  to  receive  the  Sacrament  according  to  the  English  rite.  They 
were  expelled  from  Belfast  and  Derr}\  they  were  dismissed  from 
the  magistracy,  prohibited   from  teaching  school,  their  marriages 


162  IRELAND 

1714 

were  declared  void,  and  the  Regium  Donum,  an  annual  grant  given 
by  King  William  to  their  clergy,  was  stopped  for  the  time.  But 
they  bore  it  all  with  steady  resolution  rather  than  violate  their 
principles.  Many,  however,  took  another  course.  It  will  be  re- 
lated in  the  next  chapter  how  the  ruin  of  the  wool  trade,  in  1698, 
drove  numbers  of  Presbyterians  to  emigrate  to  New  England :  and 
as  the  distress  continued,  so  also  did  the  emigration.  But  it  was 
greatly  increased  by  these  religious  hardships,  and  now  the  Presby- 
terians went  off"  in  large  numbers.  This  alarmed  the  government, 
as  it  increased  the  relative  proportion  of  Catholics;  yet  they  obsti- 
nately retained  these  two  acts,  though  earnestly  recommended 
to  repeal  them  by  successive  lords  lieutenants,  and  so  the  exodus 
continued.  For  a  long  period,  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  it 
is  calculated  that  12,000  emigrated  every  year  from  Ulster.  The 
sufferings  of  the  Presbyterians,  however,  though  bitter  for  the 
time,  were  trifling  and  brief  compared  with  those  of  the  Catholics. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  view  these  laws  as  if  they  stood  alone. 
In  many  parts  of  Europe  at  the  time  there  were  stringent  penal 
laws:  of  Protestants  against  Catholics  in  some  countries,  of 
Catholics  against  Protestants  in  others — a  fact  that  must  be  care- 
fully borne  in  mind  in  reviewing  this  legislation.  But  in  at  least 
two  respects  the  Irish  laws  contrasted  unfavorably  with  other  penal 
codes.  In  all  other  countries  it  was  the  great  majority  persecuting 
a  small  sect,  to  force  them  into  religious  compliance  with  the 
general  body;  in  Ireland  alone  was  the  attempt  made  by  a  small 
minority  to  suppress  the  religion  of  the  whole  nation  among  whom 
they  lived.  But  perhaps  the  worst  feature  of  the  Irish  enactments 
was  that  they  were  made  in  open  breach  of  public  faith. 

To  us,  looking  back  at  those  evil  times  from  a  distance  of 
nearly  two  centuries,  the  picture  is  not  wholly  black.  There  are 
spots  brightened  by  humanity,  which,  when  well  considered,  should 
stir  up  feelings  of  mutual  kindliness  among  the  people  of  the  pres- 
ent (lay.  It  will  be  good  to  point  out  a  few  of  these  relieving 
features. 

It  was  the  governing  classes  that  made  those  terrible  penal 
laws;  the  general  body  of  the  Protestant  people,  whether  in  Eng- 
land or  Ireland,  had  no  hand  in  them.  And  when  the  laws  came  into 
operation,  a  large  proportion  of  Irisli  Protestants,  all  through  the 
country,  looked  upon  them  with  silent  disapproval,  and  did  a  great 
deal  in  a  quiet  way  to  protect  their    Catholic    neighbors:  just  as 


P  E  N  A  L     L  A  W  S  163 

1714 

many  Catholics — both  clergy  and  laymen — in  1641,  and  subse- 
quently in  1798,  saved  their  Protestant  friends  from  the  fury  of  the 
mob.  This  was  especially  the  case  where  property  was  concerned. 
A  Catholic  gentleman,  when  in  danger  of  losing  his  land  through 
some  one  of  the  means  provided  by  law,  told  his  story  to  his 
Protestant  neighbor,  who  on  the  spot  purchased  the  estate,  or 
rather  pretended  to  purchase  it,  drawing  out  a  regular  agreement 
and  taking  over  the  title  deeds,  but  paying  no  purchase  money.  He 
was  now  the  owner  according  to  law,  and  received  the  rents,  but 
secretly  handed  them  over  to  his  Catholic  friend  as  they  came  in ; 
and  this  continued  generally  during  the  lives  of  the  two,  and  often 
during  the  lives  of  their  children  and  grandchildren,  till  the  repeal 
of  the  statute  enabled  land  and  deeds  to  be  restored  to  the  owners. 
Cases  such  as  this  were  quite  common  all  over  the  country;  and 
among  the  Protestant  gentry  it  was  considered  a  special  point  of 
honor  to  keep  and  restore  the  property  undiminished,  faithfully, 
and  without  fee  or  reward.  Many  a  Catholic  gentleman  holds  his 
estate  at  this  day  through  the  kind  feeling  of  the  ancestors  of  his 
present  Protestant  neighbors. 

So  also  it  often  happened  that  a  dying  Catholic,  with  young 
children,  sent  for  his  Protestant  friend  and  complied  outwardly 
with  the  law  by  leaving  them  to  his  guardianship,  with  the  secret 
understanding  that  they  should  be  educated  by  some  Catholic  se- 
lected by  the  family,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
guardians  thus  appointed  were  generally  faithful  to  their  trust, 
often  at  great  risk  to  themselves.  The  enactment  about  the  horse 
of  more  than  5/.  value  was  taken  advantage  of  only  in  a  very  few 
cases ;  and  Catholic  gentlemen  continued  to  hunt  and  race  and  drive 
equipages  with  valuable  horses,  among  the  Protestant  gentrv'-, 
without  any  molestation  during  the  whole  time  the  law  remained 
in  force. 

While  many  magistrates  were  active  in  seeing  the  law  carried 
out,  there  were  others  more  under  the  influence  of  good  feeling. 
One  of  these,  suppose,  received  information  that  some  banned 
priest  or  schoolmaster  was  hiding  in  the  neighborhood;  but  he  in- 
tentionally delayed,  or  went  to  the  wrong  spot,  or  met  with  some 
trifling  accident,  or  sent  word  secretly,  and  at  last  arrived  at  the 
hiding  place,  looking  very  wicked,  only  to  find  the  culprit  gone. 

In  other  ways  the  operation  of  these  cruel  laws  was  mitigated, 
and  it  often  turned  out  that  matters  were  not  quite  so  bad  witli 


164  IRELAND 

1714 

Catholics  as  the  lawmakers  intended.  Evasions  were  very  often 
winked  at,  even  where  well  known.  Catholic  bishops  remained  all 
through  in  tlie  country  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  discover  them, 
living  in  huts  in  remote  places  under  various  disguises,  and  meet- 
ing their  congregations  by  night  in  wild  glens  and  bogs.  Young 
priests  who  had  been  educated  abroad  managed  to  return,  and  took 
up  their  duties,  though  not  registered.  But  such  breaches  and 
evasions  were  always  very  dangerous,  and  might  at  any  moment 
end  in  detection  and  punishment.  Then  as  to  education.  Many 
priests  kept  schoolmasters,  who  taught  in  sheds  put  up  in  remote 
glens,  or  they  instructed  individual  scholars,  in  a  scrappy  kind  of 
way,  in  fields  or  lanes,  which,  however,  was  only  a  flickering  sort 
of  education  that  could  not  reach  the  general  mass  of  the  people. 

In  one  very  important  particular  the  Penal  Code  failed  to  reach 
the  Catholics.  Though  they  were  shut  out  from  the  ownership  of 
land,  and  from  the  professions,  many  branches  of  business  lay  open 
to  them,  so  that  numbers  of  Catholics  prospered  in  trade,  and 
became  rich,  with  no  power  to  hinder  them,  especially  in  large 
towns  and  seaports. 

Along  with  all  this,  it  is  well  known  that  toward  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  though  the  worst  of  the  penal  statutes 
remained  in  force,  many  of  them  were  quietly  suffered  to  fall  into 
disuse,  so  that  Catholics  began  to  bestir  themselves  a  little,  and  to 
hope  for  better  times.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  too  there  was 
such  an  overwhelming  preponderance  of  Catholics  that  even  in  the 
worst  of  the  penal  times  it  was  impossible  to  have  the  laws 
enforced. 

But  making  every  allowance  for  kindliness,  protection,  eva- 
sion, and  non-enforcement  of  the  law,  the  Catholic  people  under- 
went terrible  sufferings  for  three  or  four  generations,  and  no  one 
w^ho  has  not  read  the  detailed  history  of  those  times  can  have  any 
idea  of  the  sort  of  life  they  led.  Though  the  Penal  Code  quite 
failed  to  make  tliem  Protestants,  it  succeeded  perfectly  in  crushing, 
impoverishing,  and  degrading  them.  Deprived  of  the  means  of 
education  and  advancement,  the  great  body  sank  in  the  end  into 
such  a  state  of  listless  ignorance  and  poverty,  and  became  so  down- 
trodden and  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  inferiority,  that  after  their 
disabilities  had  been  removed  and  the  way  had  been  cleared  for 
them,  it  took  them  many  generations  more  to  recover  anything  like 
tlie  position  of  independence,  self-respect,  and  influence  they  had 
enjoyed  before  the  penal  times. 


Chapter  XXX 

TRADE   REPRESSION.     1663-1800 

THE  penal  laws  described  in  the  last  chapter  applied  mainly 
to  Catholics,  but  the  repressive  code  now  about  to  be 
described  oppressed  Irishmen  of  all  creeds. 

Ireland  has  a  good  climate,  a  fertile  soil,  and  a  fair  supply  of 
minerals ;  and  toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  spite 
of  wars  and  other  troubles,  several  branches  of  manufacture,  trade, 
and  commerce  were  flourishing.  But  the  traders  and  merchants  of 
England  fancied  that  the  prosperity  of  Ireland  was  a  loss  to  them, 
by  drawing  away  custom ;  and  in  their  shortsighted  and  selfish 
jealousy,  they  persuaded  the  English  Parliament — which,  indeed, 
needed  little  persuasion — to  ruin  almost  the  whole  trade  of  Ireland. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  penal  enactments  touching  religion,  it  will  be 
convenient  to  bring  all  the  main  provisions  of  this  Code  into  one 
chapter. 

This  legislation  was  generally  the  work  of  the  English  Par- 
liament alone;  but  sometimes  the  Irish  Parliament  followed  in  the 
same  direction,  and,  in  obedience  to  orders,  passed  acts  impoverish- 
ing their  own  country.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  religion  had 
nothing  to  do  with  these  proceedings,  wliich  are  all  the  more  to  be 
wondered  at,  seeing  that  the  blow  fell  chiefly  on  Irish  Protestants; 
for  at  this  time  tlie  general  body  of  tlie  Catholics  were  barely  able 
to  live,  and  could  do  very  little  as  a  body  in  the  way  of  industries. 
Rut  the  English  traders  cared  nothing  for  all  this ;  they  wanted  to 
destroy  Irish  trade  for  their  own  gain,  and  whether  the  ruin  fell 
on  Protestants,  Presbyterians,  or  Catholics,  was  a  matter  of  in- 
difference to  them. 

Down  to  1663  Irish  merchants  had  been  in  the  habit  of  ex- 
porting goods  of  various  kinds  to  different  foreign  countries, 
especially  to  the  British  colonies  all  over  the  world ;  and  as  Ireland 
is  a  good  grazing  country,  a  flourishing  trade  was  also  carried  on 
by  the  export  of  Irish  cattle  to  England.  Now,  an  end  was  put  to 
all  this;  for  several  acts  were  passed  in  the  English   Parliament 

165 


166  I  R  E  L  A  N  D 

1663-1800 

from  1663  to  1680  prohibiting  Irish  merchants  from  exporting  or 
importing  any  goods  to  or  from  the  colonies;  and  the  export  of 
cattle,  sheep,  pigs,  beef,  pork,  mutton,  butter,  and  cheese,  to  Eng- 
land, was  altogether  stopped.  Thus  the  chief  Irish  industry  was 
destroyed,  and  the  people,  being  unable  to  find  a  market  for  the 
produce  of  their  farms,  fell  at  once  into  poverty. 

Yet  the  Irish  did  not  despair.  Driven  from  cattle-raising,  they 
applied  themselves  to  other  industries,  especially  that  of  wool,  for 
which  the  country  is  well  suited.  In  those  times  Irish  wool  was 
considered  the  best  in  Europe ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  measures 
of  Wentworth  to  cripple  this  trade,  it  began  to  flourish  again,  and 
was  rapidly  rising  to  be  a  great  national  industry,  which  was 
carried  on  almost  exclusively  by  the  Protestant  colonists.  But  this, 
too,  was  doomed.  The  English  cloth  dealers,  taking  the  alarm, 
petitioned  in  1698  to  have  it  suppressed,  and  King  William,  in  the 
speech  from  the  throne,  promised  to  discourage  the  Irish  wool 
trade,  to  encourage  the  Irish  linen  trade,  and  to  promote  the  trade 
of  England. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  their  petitions  and  addresses, 
the  English  never  made  the  least  secret  of  what  they  wanted, 
namely,  to  destroy  Irish  trade  for  their  own  benefit.  When  the 
traders  sent  forward  their  petition  about  wool  in  1698,  the  English 
Plouse  of  Lords,  in  a  petition  to  the  king,  said :  "  The  growing 
manufacture  of  cloth  in  Ireland,  both  by  the  cheapness  of  all  sorts 
of  necessaries  of  life,  and  goodness  of  materials  for  making  all 
manner  of  cloth,  .  .  .  makes  your  loyal  subjects  in  this  king- 
dom very  apprehensive  that  the  further  growth  of  it  may  greatly 
prejudice  the  said  manufacture  here."  And,  in  the  same  year,  the 
people  of  Aldborough  and  Folkstone  petitioned  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  eastern  coast  of  Ireland  should  be  stopped  from  fishing  and 
selling  their  fish,  because  of  the  injury  done  "  by  the  Irish  catching 
herrings  at  Waterford  and  \\'exford  and  sending  them  to  the 
Straits,  and  thereby  forestalling  and  ruining  petitioners'  markets." 
And  other  such  instances  might  be  cited. 

The  upshot  of  the  agitation  against  the  wool  trade  was  that,  in 
1699,  the  servile  Irish  Parliament,  acting  on  directions  from  the 
other  side,  put  an  export  duty  of  four  shillings  per  pound  on  fine 
woolen  cloths,  and  two  shillings  per  pound  on  frieze  and  flannel, 
knowing  well  that  this  was  sure  to  ruin  their  Protestant  fellow- 
countrymen.     The  English   Parliament  followed  up  this  measure 


TRADE     REPRESSION  167 

1663-1800 

by  passing  an  act  prohibiting  the  Irish  from  exporting  either  wool 
or  woolen  goods  to  any  part  of  the  world  except  a  few  specified 
seaport  towns  in  England,  and  it  was  forbidden  to  ship  woolens 
even  to  these  except  from  Dublin,  Cork,  and  four  other  Irish 
seaports. 

These  acts  accomplished  all  that  the  English  merchants  looked 
for:  they  ruined  the  Irish  wool  trade.  The  heavy  duty  the  Irish 
wool  merchants  had  to  pay  obliged  them  to  put  such  a  price  on 
their  goods  that  they  found  it  impossible  to  sell  them  in  England ; 
so  the  trade  was  stopped  altogether,  just  as  the  law-makers  in- 
tended. The  w'oolen  mills  ceased  to  work,  the  work-people  were 
turned  idle,  and  the  buildings  went  to  ruin.  Forty  thousand  Irish 
Protestants — all  prosperous  working  people — were  immediately  re- 
duced to  idleness  and  poverty  by  it;  the  Catholics,  of  course,  shar- 
ing in  the  misery  so  far  as  they  were  employed ;  and  20,000  Presby- 
terians and  other  Xon-conformists  left  Ireland  for  America.  Then 
began  the  emigration,  from  want  of  employment,  that  continues  to 
this  da3^  But  the  English  Parliament  professed  to  encourage  the 
Irish  linen  trade,  for  this  could  do  no  harm  to  English  traders,  as 
flax-growing  and  linen  manufacture  had  not  taken  much  hold  in 
England. 

As  almost  always  happens  when  plenty  of  a  commodity  can  be 
produced,  on  which  there  are  prohibitive  duties — that  is,  duties  so 
heavy  that  it  is  impossible  to  pay  tliem  and  afterward  sell  the  goods 
with  reasonable  profit — smuggling  now  increased  enormously. 
Wool  became  so  plentiful  at  home  that  it  fetched  only  about  five- 
pence  a  pound;  while  tliree  or  four  shillings  could  easily  be  got  for 
it  in  France.  This  drove  people  to  smuggle — to  send  out  cargoes 
of  woolen  goods  secretly,  so  as  to  avoid  paying  the  customs  duties ; 
and  the  smugglers  imported,  in  return,  contraband  goods — that  is, 
those  that  ought  to  pay  duty,  but  did  not.  Every  returning  vessel 
brought  back  quantities  of  brandy,  wine,  silks,  and  so  forth,  and 
landed  them  in  remote  places  on  the  coast,  so  as  to  elude  the  cus- 
toms officers  and  escape  the  duties.  All  these  articles  they  bought 
cheaply  in  France,  and  either  kept  them  for  their  own  use,  or  more 
commonly  sold  them — cheaply,  indeed,  but  still  far  beyond  cost 
price;  so  that  smuggling  was,  in  those  days,  a  very  profitable  busi- 
ness. None  cared  to  interfere,  for  thousands  of  tlie  Irish  of  all 
classes  profited  by  it :  and  high  and  low,  squires,  magistrates, 
clergy,  rind  peasants,  Protestants  and  Catholics — a]nv)St  tlie  whole 


168  IRELAND 

1663-1800 

population  in  fact — were  in  active  combination  against  the  law. 
The  government  were  powerless  to  stop  this  trade,  and  for  genera- 
tions it  flourished  all  round  the  coasts — one  of  the  evil  results  of 
unjust  and  unwise  legislation. 

Gradually  it  came  to  pass  that  almost  all  branches  of  Irish 
trade  and  manufacture  were  destroyed  by  measures  of  the  English 
Parliament — beer,  malt,  hats,  cotton,  silk,  sailcloth,  gun-powder, 
ironware.  And  a  little  farther  on,  it  will  be  related  how  the  em- 
bargo in  the  time  of  the  American  war  not  only  ruined  the  farmers, 
but  ruined  the  trade  in  salted  beef  and  other  such  commodities. 

The  destruction  of  all  industry  produced  the  natural  results. 
During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  Ireland  was  in  an 
appalling  state  of  misery:  regularly  recurring  famines  with  their 
attendant  diseases  all  over  the  country,  and  whole  districts  depopu- 
lated. A  large  proportion  of  the  little  capital  left  in  the  country 
was  sent  to  England  to  absentee  landlords  by  middlemen,  who,  in 
their  turn,  extracted  the  very  last  penny  from  the  wretched  cottiers, 
and  this  constant  drain  of  money  greatly  aggravated  the  wretched- 
ness brought  on  by  want  of  employment.  During  the  eighteenth 
century  the  peasantry  of  Ireland  were  the  most  miserable  in  Europe, 
and  in  the  frequent  famines,  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants 
were  quite  as  badly  off  as  the  people  of  Derry  during  the  worst 
part  of  the  siege. 

But  the  evil  consequences  of  those  evil  laws  did  not  end  with 
the  eighteenth  century — they  have  come  down  to  the  present  day. 
For  when,  subsequently,  the  restrictions  were  removed  and  trade 
was  partially  relieved,  the  remedy  came  too  late.  Some  branches 
of  manufacture  and  trade  had  been  killed  downright,  and  others 
permanently  injured.  An  industry  once  extinguished  is  not  easily 
revived.  The  trade  in  wool,  a  chief  staple  of  Ireland,  which  was 
kept  down  for  nearly  a  century,  never  recovered  its  former  state  of 
prosperity.  The  consequence  of  all  this  is  that  Ireland  has  at  this 
day  comparatively  little  manufacture  and  commerce ;  and  the  people 
have  to  depend  for  subsistence  chiefly  on  the  land.  And  this  again, 
by  increasing  the  competition  for  land,  has  intensified  the  land 
troubles  inherited  from  the  older  times  of  the  plantations. 


Chapter  XXXI 

PARLIAMENTARY  STRUGGLE.     1698-1757 

READERS  of  Irish  history  should  carefully  bear  in  mind 
that  the  proceedings  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  the 
»^  political  history  of  the  country  during  the  eighteenth 
century,  have  reference  almost  solely  to  the  Protestant  portion  of 
the  community;  and  that  the  struggles  of  the  Irish  legislature  for 
independence,  to  be  related  in  this  and  the  following  chapters,  were 
the  struggles  of  Protestants  alone.  The  Catholics  had  no  power 
to  take  part  in  these  contests,  for  no  Catholic  could  be  a  member  of 
Parliament,  or  even  vote  at  an  election  for  one.  They  kept  almost 
wholly  silent — at  least  during  the  first  half  of  the  century — believ- 
ing that  the  less  attention  they  drew  on  themselves  the  better;  for 
they  cowered  under  the  law,  and  knew  not  the  moment  they  might 
be  visited  with  further  crushing  enactments.  The  Protestants  of 
the  Irish  Patriotic  Party  strove  for  the  rights  of  the  Protestant 
people  only.  The  Catholics  never  entered  into  their  thoughts  ex- 
cept for  the  purpose  of  keeping  them  down.  Molyneux,  Swift, 
Lucas,  Flood,  and  many  other  patriots  that  will  come  before  us  as 
we  go  along,  were  all  against  granting  any  political  liberty  to 
Catholics.  Burke  and  Grattan  were  almost  the  only  two  great 
Protestants  of  the  first  three-quarters  of  the  eighteenth  century 
who  took  a  broader  view%  and  advocated  the  right  of  the  Irish 
Catholics  to  be  placed  on  terms  of  equality  with  the  Protestant 
people. 

The  position  of  the  Irish  Parliament  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  century  was  this — the  high  government  officials,  from  the  lord 
lieutenant  down,  were  nearly  all  Englishmen,  with  commonly  a  few 
Irishmen  of  English  sympathies.  These  formed  w^hat  may  be  called 
the  Court  Party.  They  were  in  favor  of  English  ascendancy,  being 
always  ready  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  king  and  the  English 
council ;  and  as,  by  the  various  means  at  their  disposal  described 
farther  on — bribery,  pensions,  situations,  titles,  etc. — they  were 
nearly  always  able  to  have  a  majority  of  members  in  their  favor, 

169 


170  I  R  I^  T.  A  N  D 

1698-1757 

the  English  interest  was  all-powerful  in  the  Irish  Parliament.  But 
among  a  thoughtful  section  of  Irish  Protestants,  who  had  the  in- 
terests of  their  own  country,  or  at  least  of  the  Protestant  part  of 
it,  at  heart,  the  unjust  laws  that  destroyed  the  industries  of  Ireland 
and  ruined  and  impoverished  its  people  to  enrich  English  mer- 
chants and  tradesmen,  and  the  appointment  of  Englishmen  to  all 
the  important  posts  to  the  exclusion  of  Irishmen,  provoked  feelings 
of  resentment  and  distrust  toward  the  English  Government  akin  to 
those  produced  in  time  of  old  by  a  similar  course  of  ill-treatment, 
and  kindled  in  them  a  sentiment  of  patriotism  which  became  more 
intensified  as  time  went  on.  They  were  always  represented  in  Par- 
liament by  a  small  opposition,  \vho  came  to  be  called  Patriots,  or 
the  Patriotic  or  Popular  Party.  Some  of  these  were  indeed  selfish 
and  corrupt,  and  made  themselves  troublesome  merely  to  induce  the 
government  to  buy  them  off  by  giving  them  good  situations  or  pen- 
sions. But  there  was  always  a  solid  body  of  men  of  a  different 
stamp,  like  Molyneux  and  Grattan,  who,  so  far  as  lay  in -their 
power,  resisted  all  dictation  and  all  encroachment  on  the  privileges 
of  the  Irish  Parliament,  or  on  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  coun- 
try. They  held  steadily  in  view  two  main  objects :  To  remove  the 
ruinous  restrictions  on  trade  and  commerce,  and  to  make  their 
Parliament  as  far  as  possible  independent,  so  that  it  might  have  a 
free  hand  to  manage  the  affairs  of  Ireland.  It  was  the  unjust  trade- 
laws,  and  the  constant  preferment  of  Englishmen  over  the  heads  of 
Irishmen  that  gave  origin  to  the  Irish  Patriotic  Party,  and  brought 
to  the  front  their  great  leaders  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament,  from 
Molyneux  to  Sw^ift  and  from  Swift  to  Grattan.  Gradually,  year 
by  year,  they  gained  strength,  and  ultimately,  as  we  shall  see, 
carried  tlieir  main  points  against  the  government,  but  it  was  a  long 
and  bitter  struggle.  Sometimes  it  happened  in  cases  of  unusual 
provocation,  that,  not  only  the  small  party  of  Patriots,  but  the 
great  majority  of  the  Irish  members  were  roused  to  successful 
resistance  in  spite  of  the  influence  of  the  Court  Party,  of  which  we 
shall  see  instances  as  we  go  along.  The  struggle  between  these  two 
parties  forms  the  main  feature  in  the  political  history  of  Ireland 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  resistance  began  early.  In  1698,  some  years  before  the 
time  we  are  now  treating  of,  William  Alolyneux,  member  of  Par- 
liament for  the  University  of  Dublin,  a  man  of  great  scientific  emi- 
nence, ])ub]ishe(l  his  famous  book,  "  The  Case  of  Ireland's  being 


JOXATll  W 


WIFT.     T 

I'liiiitiii:. 


•:     DKAX     (IK     ST.     I'- 
itil)-.       Died     i;45t 
1}    ihc    Bndlci.-.n    l.i'^ 
Oxford 


PARLIAMENTARY     STRUGGLE  171 

1698-1757 

bound  by  Acts  of  Parliament  in  England  Stated,"  in  which  he  de- 
nounced the  commercial  injustice  done  to  Ireland,  traced  the 
growth  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  maintained  that  it  was  inde- 
pendent of  that  of  England,  and  had  a  right  to  make  its  own  laws. 
This  essay  was  received  in  England  with  great  indignation;  and 
the  Parliament  there,  pronouncing  it  dangerous,  ordered  it  to  be 
burned  publicly  by  the  hangman.  But  the  powerful  statement  of 
Molyneux,  though  it  taught  his  countrymen  a  useful  lesson,  did  not 
close  up  the  road  to  ruin ;  for  in  the  very  year  after  its  publication 
came  the  most  crushing  of  all  the  restrictions,  the  act  destroying 
the  Irish  wool  industry, 

A  few  years  later  on  the  bitter  feelings  excited  in  Ireland  by 
these  and  other  such  proceedings  were  greatly  intensified  by  a 
notable  event  brought  about  by  a  lawsuit  commonly  know  as  the 
Annesley  Case.  A  dispute  about  some  property  arose,  in  1719, 
between  two  Irish  persons,  Hester  Sherlock  and  Maurice  Annesley, 
which  the  Dublin  Court  of  Exchequer  decided  in  favor  of  Annes- 
ley; but  the  Irish  House  of  Lords,  on  being  appealed  to,  reversed 
this  and  gave  judgment  in  favor  of  Hester  Sherlock.  Annesley 
appealed  to  the  English  House  of  Lords,  who  affirmed  the  Ex- 
chequer decision,  reversing  that  of  the  Irish  Lords ;  and  they  fined 
Burrowes,  the  sheriff  of  Kildare,  because  he  refused  to  put 
Annesley  in  possession  in  obedience  to  their  decree.  But  the  Irish 
peers  remitted  the  fine,  declaring  the  appeal  to  the  English  Lords 
illegal,  commended  the  sheriff  for  his  action,  and  went  farther  by 
taking  into  custody  the  three  barons  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer 
who  had  given  judgment  for  Annesley.  The  English  Parliament 
at  last  ended  the  dispute  by  passing  a  momentous  act  (known  as 
"The  Sixth  of  George  I.")  deciding  tliat  the  English  Parliament 
had  the  right  to  make  laws  for  Ireland ;  and  depriving  the  Irish 
House  of  Lords  of  the  riglit  to  hear  appeals.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Poynings'  Act  did  not  give  the  English  Parliament  the  power 
of  legislating  for  Ireland.  The  Sixth  of  George  I.  now  asserted 
this  right  for  the  first  time,  and  thus  took  away  whatever  little 
independence  Poynings'  Law  had  left,  and  reduced  the  Irish 
Parliament  to  a  mere  shadow. 

The  task  of  actively  opposing  the  Court  Party,  by  speech  and 
pen,  was  not  left  solely  in  the  hands  of  members  of  Parliament: 
there  were  men  equally  able  and  active  outside,  of  whom  the  most 
brilliant  by  far  was  Jonathan   Swift,   the  celebrated  Dean  of  St. 


172  IRELAND 

1698-1757 

Patrick's  in  Dublin.  He  was  indignant  at  the  destruction  of  Irish 
industries  for  the  benefit  of  EngHsh  traders,  and  in  1720  he  wrote 
an  essay  encouraging  the  Irish  people  to  retahate  by  rejecting  all 
clothing  and  furniture  made  in  England,  and  using  only  their  own 
home  manufacture :  an  essay  that  so  enraged  the  authorities  of  both 
countries  that,  although  there  was  nothing  illegal  in  the  proposal, 
the  government  prosecuted  the  printer,  but  failed  to  have  him 
punished,  notwithstanding  the  brow-beating  efforts  of  the  judge 
who  tried  the  case. 

It  was,  however,  Swift's  action  in  the  case  of  "  Wood's  Half- 
pence "  that  brought  him  into  the  greatest  notoriety.  At  this  time 
much  inconvenience  was  felt  in  Ireland  from  the  want  of  small 
copper  coins:  and,  in  1723,  the  English  treasury,  without  consult- 
ing the  Irish  authorities,  granted  a  patent  for  coining  108,000/.  in 
base-metal  halfpence  and  farthings,  to  the  king's  favorite  the 
Duchess  of  Kendal,  who  sold  the  patent  to  an  English  iron 
merchant  named  Wood,  a  transaction  which  would  bring  an  im- 
mense profit  to  the  duchess  and  to  Wood.  And  what  made  the 
matter  all  the  worse  was  that  not  more  than  about  15,000/.  in  small 
coin  was  needed.  This  gross  job  created  intense  alarm  and  indig- 
nation in  Ireland.  The  Patriots  vehemently  attacked  and  exposed 
it;  the  two  Irish  houses  addressed  the  king,  representing  that  this 
base  coinage  would  diminish  revenue  and  destroy  commerce,  and 
multitudes  of  pamphlets,  songs,  squibs,  and  coarse  caricatures  were 
written  and  circulated  in  Dublin  attacking  "  Wood's  Halfpence." 
But  the  scheme  was  pressed  by  powerful  friends  at  court,  and  would 
have  succeeded  only  for  Swift.  He  wrote  and  printed  five  letters, 
one  after  another,  with  the  signature  "  W.  B.  Drapier,"  pointing 
out  in  simple,  homely,  vigorous  language  that  the  most  ignorant 
could  understand,  the  evils  which,  according  to  him,  would  result 
from  the  coinage.  These  coins  were  so  bad,  as  he  told  his  readers, 
that  twenty- four  of  them  were  worth  no  more  than  one  good  penny ; 
that  if  a  lady  went  shopping  she  should  have  to  bring  with  her  a 
cart  loaded  with  the  new  money;  that  a  farmer  would  have  to  em- 
ploy three  horses  to  bring  his  rent  to  his  landlord ;  that  a  poor  man 
would  have  to  give  thirty-six  of  the  halfpence  for  a  quart  of  ale; 
and  that  it  would  ruin  all  classes,  even  the  very  beggars ;  for,  when 
a  man  gives  a  beggar  one  of  these  halfpence,  it  "  will  do  him  no 
more  service  than  if  I  should  give  him  three  pins  out  of  my 
sleeve."     There  had  been  great  excitement;  but  it  was  increased 


PARLIAMENTARY     STRUGGLE  173 

1698-1757 

tenfold  by  these  letters.  The  court  officials  were  greatly  provoked 
and  the  lord  lieutenant  offered  a  reward  of  300/.  for  the  discovery 
of  the  author;  but,  though  everyone  knew  who  the  author  was,  no 
one  came  forward  to  inform  on  him.  At  length  matters  looked  so 
threatening  that  the  patent  had  to  be  withdrawn,  a  victory  that 
greatly  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  Patriots ;  and  the  Dean  be- 
came amazingly  popular  all  through  Ireland  among  both  Prot- 
estants and  Catholics. 

In  the  middle  of  the  century  the  Popular  Party  had  for  leaders. 
Councilor  Anthony  Malone,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
a  good  statesman  and  a  good  orator;  and  Charles  Lucas,  a  Dublin 
apothecary,  not  then  in  Parliament,  though  he  was  subsequently 
elected;  while  their  leader  in  the  lords  was  the  Earl  of  Kildare, 
afterward  Duke  of  Leinster.  Under  these  three  able  men  they 
boldly  attacked  the  corrupt  practices  of  the  government,  and  tri- 
umphed on  more  than  one  occasion. 

The  feeling  against  Catholics  had  lately  been  growing  some- 
what less  bitter,  and  they  began  to  bestir  themselves,  hoping  to  ob- 
tain some  little  relief.  The  first  timid  movements  were  made  by 
three  Catholic  gentlemen :  Dr.  Curry,  a  physician  of  Dublin,  his- 
torian of  the  civil  wars  in  Ireland ;  Charles  O'Conor  of  Bellanger 
in  Roscommon,  a  distinguished  scholar  and  antiquarian,  author  of 
several  books  on  Irish  historical  literature;  and  IMr.  Wyse  of 
Waterford.  They  endeavored,  in  the  first  instance,  to  stir  up  the 
Catholic  clergy  and  aristocracy  to  agitate  for  their  rights ;  but  here 
their  efforts  quite  failed,  for  these  classes,  having  already  suffered 
so  much,  were  fearful  that  any  attempt  to  obtain  justice  might  only 
make  matters  worse.  At  this  time,  however,  a  good  many  Cath- 
olics, driven  from  the  professions,  had,  as  already  stated,  taken  to 
business  and  commerce  in  Dublin  and  other  cities :  and  among  these 
classes  Curry  and  his  colleagues  were  more  successful ;  so  that  they 
founded  the  "  Catholic  Committee  "  to  watch  over  the  interests  of 
Catholics.  This  body  was  to  hold  its  meetings  in  Dublin.  The 
association  spread  some  enlightenment,  and  infused  some  faint 
life  and  hope  among  the  Catholics;  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
feeble  beginning  of  the  movement  for  Catholic  relief,  which  sub- 
sequently became  so  formidable  and  successful  under  O'Connell. 


Chapter    XXXII 

DISCONTENT   AND    DANGER.     1 757-1775 

MIDDLEMEN,  a  class  of  persons  well  known  in  Ireland, 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  wretched  condition  of 
the  Irish  peasantry  during  the  eighteenth  century.  These 
were  men  who  took  tracts  of  land  from  the  absentee  landlords  at  a 
moderate  rent,  and  sublet  it  to  cottiers  and  small  farmers  at  rack- 
rents  that  left  hardly  enough  to  support  life.  Sometimes  there  were 
two  middlemen,  the  one  who  let  the  land  to  the  farmers  being  him- 
self the  tenant  of  another  over  his  head,  who,  in  his  turn,  rented  it 
from  the  great  absentee ;  and  not  unf requently  there  were  three,  each 
making  a  profit  from  the  next  below.  But  whether  one,  two,  or 
three,  the  tillers  of  the  soil  were  always  kept  in  a  state  of  the  greatest 
poverty,  being  quite  at  the  mercy  of  their  immediate  landlord. 
Those  who  had  leases  were  indeed  a  little  better  off;  but  very  few 
had;  nearly  all  were  tenants  at  will,  and  the  landlord  made  them 
pay  whatever  he  pleased.  This  state  of  things,  which  affected  both 
Protestants  and  Catholics,  existed  in  every  part  of  Ireland  during 
the  whole  of  this  century,  and  continued  far  into  the  next. 

Other  causes  contributed  to  the  prevailing  depression.  Toward 
the  middle  of  the  century  there  was  a  very  general  movement  among 
landlords,  both  great  and  small,  to  turn  the  land  to  pasture,  for  they 
found  it  more  profitable  to  graze  and  sell  cattle  than  to  let  the  land 
for  tillage,  and  thousands  of  poor  cottiers  were  turned  off  in  order 
that  the  land  might  be  converted  into  great  grazing  farms.  Near 
many  of  the  villages  in  various  parts  of  Ireland  were  "  Commons," 
stretches  of  grassy  upland  or  bog  which  were  free  to  the  people  to 
use  for  grazing  or  for  cutting  turf,  and  formed  one  of  their  chief 
ways  of  living.  These  had  belonged  to  them  time  out  of  niind, 
being  in  fact  the  remains  of  the  Commons  Land  of  ancient  days ; 
but  about  this  period  the  landlords  had  begun  to  enclose  them  as 
private  property,  chiefly  for  grazing.  The  people  had  other  reasons 
for  discontent,  too.  They  complained  that  the  landlords  charged 
cxce-.si\c  rents  for  bogs;  and  the  gentry  everywhere  mamgcd  to 

171 


DISCONTENT     AND     DANGER  176 

1761-1763 

evade  the  tithes  payable  to  the  ministers  of  the  Established  Church, 
which  in  consequence  fell  chiefly  on  the  very  poorest  of  the  people. 
In  addition  to  all  these  was  the  general  want  of  employment  due  to 
the  loss  of  trade  of  every  kind,  already  referred  to,  which  drove 
the  peasantry  to  depend  on  land  as  almost  their  sole  means  of 
subsistence. 

At  last  the  people,  with  some  wild  notions  of  redressing  their 
grievances,  began  to  combine  in  various  secret,  oath-bound  societies 
by  which  the  country  was  for  many  years  greatly  disturbed.  Of 
these  the  most  noteworthy  were  the  Whiteboys — so  called  because 
they  wore  white  shirts  over  their  coats  when  out  on  their  nightly 
excursions — who  were  confined  chiefly  to  the  counties  of  Water- 
ford,  Cork,  Limerick,  and  Tipperary.  The  movement  w'as  not 
sectarian ;  and  it  was  not  directed  against  the  government,  but 
against  the  oppression  of  individuals.  The  Whiteboys  rose  up  in 
the  first  instance  (in  1761)  against  the  enclosure  of  Commons,  and 
persons  of  different  religions  joined  them ;  for  all  suffered  equally 
from  the  encroachments  of  the  landlords,  and  Catholics  as  well  as 
Protestants  fell  under  their  vengeance.  They  traversed  the  country 
at  night,  leveling  all  the  new  fences  that  enclosed  the  Commons, 
and  digging  up  pasture  land  to  force  tillage,  whence  they  at  first 
got  the  name  of  Levelers.  But  they  soon  went  beyond  their 
original  designs,  setting  themselves  up  as  redressers  of  all  sorts  of 
grievances,  and  they  committed  terrible  outrages  on  those  who 
became  obnoxious  to  them.  Sometimes  they  took  people  out  of 
their  beds  in  winter,  and  immersed  them  naked  up  to  the  chin  in 
a  pit  of  water  full  of  briars.  At  length  they  became  so  troublesome 
that  a  large  force  was  sent,  in  1762,  to  suppress  them,  under  the 
Marquis  of  Drogheda,  who  fixed  his  headquarters  at  Clogheen  in 
Tipperary.  The  parish  priest,  Father  Nicholas  Sheehy,  was  ac- 
cused of  enrolling  Whiteboys,  and  a  reward  was  offered  for  his 
arrest;  but  he,  earnestly  denying  the  charge,  surrendered,  and 
was  tried  in  Dublin  and  acquitted.  He  was  immediately  rearrested 
on  a  charge  of  murdering  one  of  his  accusers,  and  after  a  doubtful 
trial,  was  convicted  and  hanged.  Father  Sheehy  asserted  his  inno- 
cence to  the  last ;  the  people  considered  him  a  martyr,  and  his  execu- 
tion caused  fearful  excitement. 

In  Ulster  there  were  similar  secret  associations  among  the 
Protestant  peasantry,  brought  about  by  causes  of  much  the  same 
kind    as    those    of   the   south.      One    main    ground    of    complaint 


176  IRELAND 

1763-1775 

was  that  every  man  was  forced  to  give  six  days'  work  in  the 
year,  and  six  days'  work  of  a  horse,  in  the  making  or  repairing  of 
roads,  which  the  gentry  made  full  use  of,  while  they  themselves 
contributed  notliing.  Those  who  banded  together  against  this  were 
called  "  Hearts  of  Oak."  Another  association,  the  "  Hearts  of 
Steel,"  rose  in  1769,  against  unjust  and  exorbitant  rents;  for  the 
people  of  Ulster  were  as  much  oppressed  as  those  of  Munster  by 
middlemen,  who  were  here  commonly  known  as  "  Forestallers." 
These  "  Oakboys  "  and  "  Steelboys,"  not  content  with  their  original 
objects,  set  themselves  to  redress  various  abuses  about  land,  like 
their  brethren  in  the  south ;  and  they  also  opposed  the  payment  of 
tithes,  which  had  been  lately  very  much  increased  in  Ulster.  There 
were  many  other  secret  societies  at  this  time  and  for  long  after- 
ward, culminating  later  on  in  the  most  celebrated  of  them  all,  the 
United  Irishmen. 

The  oppression  of  the  northern  peasantry  by  the  gentry  caused 
a  great  emigration  of  the  best  of  the  people  to  America,  or  rather 
increased  the  emigration  begun  more  than  half  a  century  before ; 
and  when,  a  little  later,  the  war  broke  out  between  England  and 
the  United  States,  the  most  determined  and  dangerous  of  the  troops 
who  fought  against  the  English  were  the  sturdy  expatriated  Presby- 
terians of  Ulster,  and  the  descendants  of  those  who  had  emigrated 
on  account  of  religious  persecution  and  the  destruction  of  the  wool 
trade.  The  first  Irish  settlers  went  to  New  England,  and  settled 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  where  some  places  still 
bear  names  of  Irish  origin.  But  in  succeeding  years  far  more  went 
into  Pennsylvania  and  the  Southern  colonies,  Philadelphia  was 
the  chief  landing  place,  altliough  some  went  to  Charleston.  Those 
disembarking  at  Philadelphia  went  into  the  "  back  counties  "  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  many  found  their  way  thence  south  into  Vir- 
ginia and  the  Carolinas,  meeting  there  those  who  had  landed  in 
the  south,  until  the  region  of  the  Alleghenies  and  beyond  was 
peopled  mainly  by  that  race.  Most  of  these  were  of  the  so-called 
Scotch-Irish,  most  were  Protestants  (although  there  were  a  few 
Irish  Catholics  in  and  around  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore),  and 
all  were  of  an  adventurous  nature  and  rough  and  ready  spirit.  In 
Revolutionary  times  Generals  Montgomery  and  Sullivan,  in  a 
later  period  Calhoun  and  Andrew  Jackson,  were  prominent  ex- 
amples of  this  people  and  their  descendants. 

.Meantime,  through  all  troubles,  the  contest  of  the  two  parties 


DISCONTENT     AND     DANGER  177 

1757-1775 

in  Parliament  went  on  without  the  least  cessation.  The  Court 
Party  w^ere  strong,  and  continued  to  purchase  members  to  their 
side  by  various  corrupt  means ;  but  the  Patriots  were  vigilant,  and 
never  gave  the  government  a  day's  rest.  Pensions  constituted  one 
of  the  principal  forms  of  bribery.  Large  pensions  were  given  to 
numbers  of  persons  who  had  done  nothing  to  earn  them ;  and  some 
were  bestowed  on  favorites  by  the  English  privy  council  and 
charged  to  Ireland  without  any  reference  to  the  Irish  Government; 
so  that  the  pension  list  had  grown  to  enormous  proportions.  This 
corrupt  and  ruinous  pension  list  was  vehemently  attacked  by  the 
Patriots  under  the  lead  of  a  great  man,  Henry  Flood,  w^ho  was 
aided  by  the  growing  eloquence  of  a  still  more  celebrated  patriot, 
Henry  Grattan,  then  a  very  young  man,  and  not  yet  in  Parliament. 
But,  although  they  fully  exposed  the  corruption  of  the  pension  list, 
the  government  proved  too  strong  for  them,  and  the  evil,  so  far 
from  abating,  continued  to  increase  year  by  year. 

Another  question  arose  about  this  time  which  excited  great 
interest — that  of  the  duration  of  Parliament.  In  England  the 
utmost  limit  was  seven  years;  at  the  end  of  which  the  Parliament, 
if  it  lasted  so  long,  had  to  be  dissolved,  and  there  was  a  general 
election.  This  was  a  good  plan;  for  if  a  member  acted  wrong 
the  electors  could  put  another  in  his  place  without  much  delay. 
But  in  Ireland  Parliament  lasted  as  long  as  the  king  wished,  and 
the  preceding  one  had  continued  during  the  entire  reign  of  George 
II. — thirty-three  years. 

This  state  of  things  led  to  great  abuses,  and  several  times  the 
Patriots  brought  in  a  Septennial  or  seven  years  bill,  and  the  major- 
ity of  the  Irish  Parliament  agreed  to  send  over  the  heads  of  the 
bill  for  approval  by  the  English  council,  in  accordance  with  Poyn- 
ings'  Law.  But,  in  each  case,  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  communi- 
cation. In  1767  once  more,  the  Patriots,  under  the  leadership  of 
Charles  Lucas,  did  the  same  thing;  and  this  time  the  document 
was  returned,  approved,  from  England,  but  with  the  seven  years 
changed  to  eight,  which  was  accejited  by  the  Irish  Parliament. 
The  passing  of  this  Octennial  Bill  was  the  occasion  of  much  popular 
rejoicing  in  Ireland. 

After  this  bill  had  become  law  there  was  a  dissolution,  and 
a  new  Parliament  was  elected.  During  the  election,  Lord  Town- 
shend — that  lord  lieutenant  under  wliom  the  Octennial  Bill  had 
been   passed — made   use   of  e\-ery  possible    form   of  bribery,   and 


178  IRELAND 

1757-1778 

with  much  success,  to  have  members  returned  favorable  to  his  side. 
But,  with  all  his  corrupt  practices,  he  failed  to  bring  this  new  House 
of  Commons  with  him  on  one  important  point.  Both  in  England 
and  in  Ireland  the  Commons  have  always  jealously  preserved  to 
themselves  the  power  to  originate  money  bills — that  is,  the  power 
to  raise  money  by  taxation  and  to  apply  it  to  the  expenses  of  the 
country — justly  holding  that  the  representatives  of  the  people  have 
alone  the  right  to  tax  the  people.  On  the  present  occasion  the 
English  privy  council  sent  over  a  money  bill  for  Ireland,  with 
directions  to  have  it  passed  by  the  Irish  Parliament;  but  it  was 
rejected  "  because  it  did  not  originate  in  the  House  of  Commons  " 
— the  very  phrase  used  in  Sydney's  Parliament  in  1692 — w^hich 
greatly  incensed  Lord  Townshend.  Keeping  his  mind  to  himself, 
however,  he  first  got  Parliament  to  pass  the  usual  money  supplies 
to  the  government,  and  when  these  were  safe,  he  had  the  Com- 
mons summoned  to  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords,  w'here  he  lec- 
tured them  severely  for  their  conduct  about  the  money  bill,  and 
prorogued  Parliament  for  fourteen  months.  He  entered  a  protest 
in  the  books  of  the  House  of  Lords  against  the  rejection  of  the 
bill;  but  the  Commons,  who  were  more  firm  than  the  Lords,  for- 
bade their  clerk  to  enter  the  same  protest  on  their  books.  These 
proceedings  of  Townshend,  which  were  felt  to  be  a  mixture  of 
trickery  and  tyranny,  caused  great  indignation,  and  gave  renewed 
strength  to  the  popular  party. 

All  this  time  the  Catholics  were  almost  wholly  silent,  taking 
no  part  in  political  questions:  their  only  desire  being  to  avoid  the 
sharp  fangs  of  the  law.  Yet  there  were  signs  of  some  faint  desire 
to  indulge  them  a  little;  but  how  little  may  be  judged  from  one 
small  concession,  and  the  difficulty  of  having  even  that  granted. 
Lord  Townshend  had  an  act  passed  (1771),  which  had  been 
previously  often  rejected,  enabling  a  Catholic  to  take  on  long  lease, 
and  reclaim  as  best  he  could,  fifty  acres  of  bog ;  and,  if  it  were  too 
deep  or  marshy  for  building  on,  he  was  permitted  to  have  half  an 
acre  of  solid  land  on  which  to  build  a  house.  But  these  precautions 
were  inserted :  that  the  bog  should  be  at  least  four  feet  deep,  and 
that  it  should  not  be  nearer  than  a  mile  to  any  market  town. 

Townshend  at  last  growing  tired  of  the  ceaseless  opposition 
of  the  Patriots,  and  of  the  everlasting  deluge  of  hostile  literature 
in  newspapers,  pamphlets,  ballads,  and  all  sorts  of  witty  squibs, 
with  ugly  caricatures,  resigned  in  1772.     During  his  term  of  office 


DISCONTENT     AND     DANGER  179 

1767-1775 

he  had  done  more  to  corrupt  ParHament  than  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors, by  dismissing  all  opposed  to  him,  and  by  giving  pensions, 
places,  and  titles — all  to  secure  a  majority  for  the  Court  or  English 
Party.  By  this  open  and  perpetual  corruption  he  managed  to  kee]. 
up  a  majority  and  to  have  the  most  of  his  measures  passed.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  these  proceedings  had  the  effect  of  consolidating 
the  Patriotic  Party,  and  of  strengthening  their  determination  to 
break  down  the  purely  English  influence,  and  to  have  Irish  affairs 
managed  mainly  for  the  benefit  of  Ireland,  and  not  solely  for  that 
of  England,  as  had  hitherto  been  the  case. 


Chapter    XXXIII 

THE   VOLUNTEERS.     1775-1779 

IN  1775  began  the  war  between  England  and  her  North  Ameri- 
can colonies,  which  in  more  ways  than  one  had  much  influence 
on  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  mostly  favorable,  but  sometimes  the 
reverse.  Notwithstanding  all  the  disastrous  restrictions,  some  chan- 
nels for  commerce  still  remained  open  to  Ireland;  and  a  brisk 
trade  was  carried  on  by  the  export  of  provisions  of  different  kinds, 
especially  salted  meat,  to  various  countries.  But  even  this  industry 
did  not  escape;  for  in  the  very  year  after  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  an  embargo  was  laid  on  the  exportation  of  Irish  provisions,  in 
order  to  cheapen  food  for  the  British  army,  as  well  as  to  prevent 
supplies  reaching  America.  In  other  words,  all  export  of  provi- 
sions from  Ireland  was  prohibited.  This  nearly  ruined  the  farmers 
and  all  others  employed  in  the  trade,  and  caused  instant  distress 
everywhere.  As  might  be  expected,  it  gave  rise  to  a  flourishing- 
smuggling  trade,  which  was  extensively  carried  on,  especially  round 
the  intricate  coasts  of  the  South  and  West,  but  which  went  no  way 
in  alleviating  the  distress.  The  embargo  was  ordered  by  the  Eng- 
lish authorities  of  their  own  motion,  without  consulting  Ireland; 
and  this  fact,  with  the  sight  of  the  misery  that  had  been  suddenly 
brought  on  the  country,  caused  such  dangerous  discontent  in  the 
Irish  Parliament  that  it  was  considered  desirable  to  dissolve  it, 
and  have  a  new  set  of  more  pliable  members  elected.  The  general 
election  accordingly  came,  and  as  usual  there  was  extensive  bribery 
to  secure  a  government  majority. 

In  Ireland  the  people  generally  sympathized  with  America,  for 
they  felt  that  the  grievances  from  which  they  had  so  long  suffered 
were  much  the  same  as  those  against  which  the  Americans  had 
risen  in  revolt ;  and  they  began  to  entertain  a  hope  that  one  out- 
come of  the  war  might  be  free  trade  for  their  own  country,  the 
only  possible  remedy  for  the  prevailing  misery. 

In  England  the  feeling  of  the  Irish  people  was  well  under- 
stood; and  some  discussions  regarding  the  injustice  done  to  Irish 

180 


THE      VOLUNTEERS  181 

1775-1779 

trade  were  originated  in  the  English  Parhament  by  Edmund  Burke 
and  other  friends  of  Ireland;  but  a  great  cry  was  instantly  raised 
by  English  manufacturers  and  traders — an  outburst  of  mere  selfish- 
ness— against  any  movement  that  threatened  their  own  privileges 
by  relieving  the  Irish  people,  and  the  end  of  the  matter  was  that 
only  a  few  trifling  concessions  were  made. 

The  war  in  America  had  gone  steadily  against  the  English; 
and  great  consternation  was  caused  when  news  came  in  1777  that 
General  Burgoyne  with  6000  men  had  surrendered  to  the  American 
General  Gates  at  Saratoga.  But  there  was  greater  alarm  still  in  the 
following  year,  when  France  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the 
United  States.  This  was  immediately  followed  by  a  measure  car- 
ried in  the  English  Parliament,  partially  relieving  English  Catholics 
from  their  disabilities,  and  with  this  example  to  follow,  Luke 
Gardiner,  afterward  Lord  Mountjoy,  brought  in  a  bill  in  the  Irish 
Parliament  to  grant  considerable  relief  to  Irish  Catholics  and 
dissenters. 

At  this  time  indeed  much  of  the  Penal  Code  had  fallen  into 
disuse,  but  still  it  hung  over  the  heads  of  the  Catholics,  and  might 
be  brought  down  at  any  time.  Yet  there  was  considerable  opposi- 
tion to  Gardiner's  proposal ;  but  the  government  favored  it,  and 
in  1778  the  bill  was  carried  by  a  small  majority.  At  the  same  time 
the  embargo  was  removed,  but  during  the  two  or  three  years  of 
its  continuance  it  had  done  irreparable  damage  by  causing  the  trade 
in  salted  meat  to  be  transferred  to  other  countries. 

The  act  of  relief  repealed  those  enactments  which  prohibited 
the  purchase  of  freehold  property  by  Catholics,  and  which  gave  the 
whole  property  to  the  eldest  son,  and  the  right  of  separate  mainte- 
nance at  the  father's  expense  to  any  other  child  who  became  a 
Protestant.  Catholics  could  now  take  land  on  freehold  lease,  i.  e., 
on  lease  for  life.  Instead  of  the  right  to  purchase  land  in  perpetuity, 
they  got  what  was  much  the  same  thing,  the  right  to  lease  for  999 
years.  The  Test  Act  was  also  abolished,  which  relieved  Presby- 
terians as  well  as  Catholics. 

All  this  time  Ireland  was  in  a  very  defenseless  state.  For 
in  the  very  year  of  the  opening  of  the  war,  4000  Irish  troops  had 
been  sent  away  at  the  request  of  the  king,  for  service  in  America, 
leaving  only  three  or  four  thousand  in  the  country,  and  though  the 
English  Government  proposed  to  send  to  Ireland  4000  Protestant 
soldiers  from  Germany  in  place  of  those  who  had  been  drafted  away. 


182  IRELAND 

1775- 177» 

the  Irish  House  of  Commons  declined  to  admit  them,  saying  that 
the  loyal  people  of  Ireland  were  well  able  to  protect  themselves 
without  the  aid  of  any  foreign  troops.  Now,  however,  things  be- 
gan to  look  very  threatening,  and  people  feared  foreign  invasion. 
For  not  only  was  the  war  going  on  badly,  but  France  and  Spain 
were  both  hostile,  and  the  English  and  Irish  coasts  swarmed  with 
American  privateers  which  captured  British  merchant  vessels  and 
did  immense  damage. 

In  the  north  of  Ireland  the  people  had  good  reason  for  ap- 
prehension. Only  about  eighteen  years  before  (in  1760),  an 
attack  had  been  made  in  Ulster  by  a  French  party.  All  this  was 
vividly  remembered;  and  now  the  celebrated  privateer  Paul  Jones, 
a  Scotchman  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  with  his  vessel 
the  Ranger,  was  committing  gi^eat  depredations  round  the  Irish 
coast.  Outside  Carrickfergus  he  captured  an  EngHsh  brig,  and  got 
safely  off  with  her  to  Brest. 

The  Irish  saw  that  if  they  were  to  be  protected  at  all  they  must 
protect  themselves ;  and  this  conviction  gave  origin  to  the  Volun- 
teer Movement,  which  was  begun  toward  the  end  of  1778.  The 
first  Volunteer  companies  were  raised  in  Belfast,  after  which  the 
movement  rapidly  spread ;  the  country  gentlemen  armed  and  drilled 
their  tenants ;  and  by  May  of  the  following  year  nearly  4000  were 
enrolled  in  tlie  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim.  The  authorities  did 
not  look  on  this  movement  with  favor,  knowing  well  that  it  would 
strengthen  the  opposition ;  for  it  was  got  up  by  the  people  and 
their  leaders,  quite  independent  of  the  government,  but  the  feeling 
of  the  country  was  too  strong  for  them.  The  formation  of  Volun- 
teer companies  extended  to  other  parts  of  Ireland,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  year  42,000  Volunteers  were  enrolled. 

James  Caulfield,  Earl  of  Charlemont,  a  man  universally  re- 
spected, of  refined  tastes  and  scholarly  attainments,  and  moderate 
in  his  views,  was  in  command  of  the  Northern  Volunteers;  the 
Duke  of  Leinster,  of  those  of  Leinster;  and  other  gentlemen  of 
influence  took  the  lead  in  other  parts  of  Ireland. 

We  must  remember  two  things  in  regard  to  these  Volunteers. 
First,  the  rank  and  file  were  the  very  people  who  most  severely  felt 
the  prevailing  distress  caused  by  the  suppression  of  Irish  trade; 
and  who,  without  being  in  any  sense  disloyal,  were  bitterly  hostile 
to  the  government,  while  their  sympathies  were  entirely  with  the 
Patriotic  Party.     Of  all  this  the  government  were  well  aware,  but 


THE      VOLUNTEERS  183 

1775-1779 

they  dared  not  attempt  to  keep  down  the  movement.  They  were 
obHged  even  to  go  so  far  as  to  supply  arms,  though  much  against 
their  will :  but  all  other  expenses,  including  uniforms,  were  borne 
by  the  people  themselves.  The  second  matter  to  be  borne  in  mind 
is  that  this  was  a  Protestant  movement,  the  Catholics  not  yet  being 
permitted  to  take  any  positions  of  trust ;  but  as  time  went  on  Catho- 
lics gradually  joined  the  ranks  in  considerable  numbers. 

Parliament  met  in  October  (1779).  The  Patriotic  Party  had 
now  the  Volunteers  at  their  back,  and  just  as  the  government  had 
feared,  assumed  a  bolder  tone;  and  what  gave  their  demands  ten- 
fold strength  was  that  they  were  known  to  be  thoroughly  loyal,  and 
wanted  nothing  more  than  the  redress  of  admitted  grievances. 
Flood  had  been  their  leader  down  to  1774,  when  he  took  office 
under  the  government,  having  been  appointed  vice  treasurer  with  a 
salary  of  3500/.  a  year.  This  obliged  him  to  keep  silent  on  most 
of  the  great  questions  in  dispute  between  the  two  parties,  and  he 
lost  the  confidence  of  the  people,  which  was  now  transferred  to 
Grattan. 

Though  the  embargo  had  been  removed,  all  the  older  restric- 
tions on  Irish  trade  still  remained,  under  which  it  was  impossible 
for  the  country  to  prosper,  or  even  to  emerge  from  poverty.  On 
the  assembling  of  Parliament,  Grattan,  in  an  amendment  to  the 
Address,  brought  in  a  motion  demanding  free  trade,  which,  after 
some  discussion,  was  carried  unanimously.  Even  the  members  in 
government  employment  voted  for  this :  it  was  proposed  by  Walter 
Hussey  Burgh,  the  Prime  Sergeant,  and  was  supported  by  Flood, 
Hely  Hutchinson,  Ponsonby,  and  Gardiner,  all  holding  offices.  Dub- 
lin was  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  and  the  Parliament  house 
was  surrounded  by  an  immense  crowd  shouting  for  free  trade; 
for  now,  at  last,  they  saw  some  prospect  of  relief.  The  Address, 
with  Grattan's  amendment,  was  borne  through  Dame  Street  by  the 
Speaker  and  the  Commons  in  procession,  from  the  Parliament 
house  to  the  castle,  to  be  presented  to  Lord  Buckinghamshire,  the 
lord  lieutenant.  The  streets  were  lined  both  sides  with  Volunteers 
under  the  Duke  of  Leinster :  as  the  members  walked  along  they 
were  received  with  acclamation  by  an  immense  multitude,  and  the 
Volunteers  presented  arms  in  honor  of  the  Speaker  and  members. 

It  was  in  the  debates  on  this  question  that  Hussey  Burgh 
made  his  reputation  as  an  orator.  In  one  of  them  he  used  a  sentence 
that  has  become  famous.     Someone  had  remarked  that  Ireland  was 


184  IRELAND 

1775-1779 

at  peace ;  "  Talk  not  to  me  of  peace,"  said  he ;  "  Ireland  is  not  at 
peace ;  it  is  smothered  war.  England  has  sown  her  laws  as  drag- 
ons' teeth:  they  have  sprung  up  in  armed  men."  This  sentence 
produced  unparalleled  excitement;  and,  when  it  had  calmed  down 
so  that  he  could  be  heard,  he  announced  that  he  resigned  his  office 
under  the  Crown.  "  The  gates  of  promotion  are  shut,"  exclaimed 
Grattan ;   "  the  gates  of  glory  are  opened!  " 

But  to  the  British  Parliament  alone,  which  had  laid  on  the 
restrictions,  belonged  the  task  of  removing  them.  In  November 
(1779)  the  English  prime  minister.  Lord  North,  introduced  three 
propositions  to  relieve  Irish  trade;  the  first  permitted  free  ex- 
port of  Irish  wool  and  woolen  goods;  the  second  free  export  of 
Irish  glass  manufactures;  the  third  allowed  free  trade  with  the 
British  colonies.  The  first  two  were  passed  immediately ;  the  third 
after  a  little  time.  The  news  of  this  was  received  with  great  joy 
in  Dublin. 


Chapter    XXXIV 

LEGISLATIVE    INDEPENDENCE.     1780-1783 

EVERY  important  demand  made  so  far  by  the  popular  party 
in  Ireland  had  been  conceded;  and  the  more  they  forced 
the  government  to  restore,  the  more  they  were  determined 
to  have.  They  had  obtained  some  relief  for  trade:  they  now  re- 
solved that  their  Parliament,  which  was  bound  down  by  Poynings' 
Law  and  by  the  Sixth  of  George  I.,  should  also  be  free.  On  April 
19,  1780,  in  a  magnificent  speech,  Grattan  moved  his  memorable 
resolutions : 

That  the  king,  with  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland,  are 
the  only  power  on  earth  competent  to  enact  laws  to  bind  Ireland. 

That  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  are  inseparably  united  under 
one  sovereign. 

The  question,  however,  was  not  put  directly  to  a  division: 
for,  though  it  was  obvious  that  the  sense  of  the  house  was  on  the 
side  of  Grattan,  he  and  his  party  might  have  been  outvoted  if  a  vote 
had  been  taken. 

The  next  debate  arose  on  a  mutiny  bill — that  is,  a  bill  to  main- 
tain and  pay  the  army.  In  England  the  Mutiny  Act  is  not  per- 
manent: it  is  passed  from  year  to  year,  lest  the  army  might  be 
used  by  the  king  or  government  as  an  instrument  of  oppres- 
sion, as  it  was  often  done  in  days  gone  by,  when  kings,  with  an 
army  at  their  back,  did  what  they  pleased  in  defiance  of  Parlia- 
ment and  people.  The  Mutiny  Bill  for  Ireland  was  passed  by  the 
Irish  Parliament  after  a  long  contest ;  but,  having  been  trans- 
mitted to  the  English  authorities,  it  was  returned  changed  to  a 
perpetual  bill — the  very  thing  they  took  good  care  to  avoid  in 
England.  The  Irish  Government,  following  their  directions  as 
usual,  proposed  this  measure  in  the  Parliament  in  1780;  but  it 
was  most  resolutely  opposed,  and  created  great  irritation  and  ex- 
citement all  over  the  country.  Nevertheless  the  Court  Party  car- 
ried it  in  spite  of  all  expostulation ;  and  carried  it  by  wholesale 
bribery,  especially  by  selling  peerages  and  peerage  promotions.     In 

185 


186  IRELAND 

1780-1781 

this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  the  action  of  the  government,  both 
in  England  and  Ireland,  appears  to  have  been  singularly  ill-judged 
and  short-sighted,  in  exasperating  the  Irish  people  at  the  very  time 
of  wars  with  America,  France,  Spain,  and  other  countries.  Their 
proceedings,  instead  of  suppressing  the  spirit  now  abroad  through 
the  country,  or  allaying  excitement,  intensified  the  discontent  and 
spread  the  agitation. 

Meantime  the  enthusiasm  for  home  government  was  spread- 
ing and  intensifying;  and  the  opposition,  led  by  Grattan,  gained 
strength  and  confidence  by  the  great  increase  of  the  Volunteers, 
who,  much  against  the  wish  of  the  government,  continued  to  be 
enrolled  in  the  four  provinces,  till  at  last  they  numbered  100,000 
men.  The  country  was  now  all  ablaze  with  excitement,  though 
perfectly  peaceable;  and  people  scarcely  thought  or  talked  of  any- 
thing but  the  question  of  a  free  Parliament.  During  the  early 
months  of  1781  innumerable  meetings  were  held  all  over  Ireland; 
and  what  was  more  significant,  there  were  reviews  of  the  Volun- 
teers everywhere  in  the  four  provinces,  with  the  great  question 
always  in  their  thoughts  and  speech.  In  Belfast  Lord  Charlemont 
rode  through  the  crow^ded  streets  at  the  head  of  his  splendid  corps, 
and  issued  an  address,  in  which  he  hailed  the  spirit  of  freedom  that 
had  enabled  them,  without  help  from  outside,  to  provide  against 
foreign  invasion,  and  looked  forward  to  the  accomplishment  of 
legislative  independence. 

In  the  session  of  1781,  which  did  not  open  till  October,  Grattan 
was  the  great  leader  of  the  popular  party.  He  was  seconded  with 
almost  equal  ability  by  Flood,  who,  toward  the  end  of  the  preceding 
year,  finding  his  position  of  enforced  silence  unendurable,  had 
thrown  up  his  government  appointment,  and  had  been  removed  by 
the  king  from  his  seat  on  the  Privy  Council.  Though  holding  office, 
he  had  never  worked  well  with  the  government;  and  he  now 
joined  his  old  friends,  and  thereby  regained  much  of  his  former 
popularity.  They  had  at  their  back  a  number  of  able  and  bril- 
liant men — Hely  Hutchinson,  John  Fitzgibbon  (afterward,  when 
in  office,  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  cause  he  now  advocated),  Hussey 
Burgh,  Barry  Yelverton,  and  others.  Barry  Yelverton  had  given 
notice  of  motion  on  December  5,  1781,  for  the  repeal  of  Poynings' 
Act ;  but  on  that  day  news  came  of  a  great  disaster — the  surrender 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  and  his  w^hole  army  in  America,  which  ruined 
the  cause  of  England  in  the  war.     Whereupon  Yelverton,  abandon- 


LEGISLATIVE     INDEPENDENCE         187 

1781-1782 

ing  his  motion  for  the  time,  moved  an  address  of  loyalty  and  attach- 
ment to  the  king,  which  was  carried.  The  repeal  of  Poynings'  Law 
was,  however,  again  moved  in  the  same  month  by  Flood,  but  the 
motion  was  defeated  by  government. 

During  all  this  session  the  government  authorities  were  able  to 
secure  a  majority  by  a  plentiful  distribution  of  patronage;  so  that 
it  would  have  been  quite  useless  to  bring  forward  a  motion  for  leg- 
islative independence.  At  last  Grattan,  hopeless  of  being  able  to 
contend  in  Parliament  against  the  forces  of  corruption,  determined 
to  let  the  empire  hear  the  voice  of  even  a  more  powerful  pleader. 
A  convention  of  delegates  from  the  Ulster  Volunteers  was  sum- 
moned for  February  15,  at  Dungannon,  the  old  home  of  Hugh 
O'Neill.  Two  hundred  and  forty-two  delegates  from  143  Volun- 
teer corps  of  Ulster,  most  of  them  men  of  wealth  and  station, 
assembled  in  the  Dissenting  Meeting  House  of  Dungannon.  The 
proceedings  were  managed  chiefly  by  Grattan,  Flood,  and  Lord 
Charlemont;  and  thirteen  resolutions  were  adopted,  of  which  the 
most  important  were: 

That  the  king,  Lords,  and  Commons  of  Ireland  have  alone  the 
right  to  legislate  for  the  country : 

That  Poynings'  Law  is  unconstitutional  and  a  grievance,  and 
should  be  revoked : 

That  the  ports  of  Ireland  should  be  open  to  all  nations  not  at 
war  with  the  king : 

That  a  permanent  mutiny  bill  is  unconstitutional. 

And  "  That  as  men  and  Irishmen,  as  Christians  and  as  Prot- 
estants, we  rejoice  in  the  relaxation  of  the  Penal  Laws  against  our 
Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects ;  and  we  conceive  the  measure 
to  be  fraught  with  the  happiest  consequences  to  the  Union  and 
prosperity  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland."  This  last  was  inserted 
at  the  instance  of  Grattan ;  and,  among  its  most  ardent  supporters 
were  three  clergymen  delegates — one  belonging  to  the  Established 
Church,  the  other  two  Presbyterians.  The  resolutions  of  the  Dun- 
gannon Convention  were  adopted  by  all  the  Volunteer  corps  of 
Ireland ;  and  they  formed  the  basis  of  the  momentous  legislation 
that  followed.  These  spirit-stirring  proceedings  were  altogether 
the  work  of  Protestants,  for  the  Catholics  were  still  shut  out  from 
taking  any  part  in  them. 

On  the  day  that  the  Dungannon  resolutions  were  passed, 
Luke  Gardiner  introduced  a  measure  for  the  further  relief  of  Catho- 


188  IRELAND 

1782 

lies,  which,  after  some  opposition  and  delay,  was  adopted.  They 
were  allowed  to  buy,  sell,  and  otherwise  dispose  of  lands  the  same 
as  their  Protestant  neighbors.  The  statute  against  celebrating  and 
hearing  Mass,  and  those  requiring  the  registration  of  priests,  and 
forbidding  the  residence  of  bishops  and  other  clergy,  were  all  re- 
pealed. Catholic  schoolmasters  could  teach  schools,  and  Catholics 
could  be  guardians  of  children;  the  law  prohibiting  a  Catholic  from 
having  a  horse  worth  more  than  5/.  was  repealed,  as  well  as  those 
which  made  Catholics  pay  for  losses  by  robberies,  and  w^hich  for- 
bade them  to  come  to  live  in  Limerick  and  Galway. 

The  next  meeting  of  Parliament  was  on  April  16,  1782.  The 
citizens  of  Dublin,  believing  that  what  they  had  long  hoped  for 
was  coming,  were  all  abroad :  and  among  them,  the  Volunteers  were 
conspicuous  with  their  bands,  banners,  and  bright  uniforms.  The 
usual  Address  was  moved,  to  which  Grattan  moved  an  amendment. 
He  was  very  ill  at  the  time,  and  when  he  rose  he  w'as  pale  and 
trembling;  but,  as  he  went  on,  he  gathered  strength  and  energy; 
and  his  splendid  speech  moved  the  whole  house  to  uncontrollable 
excitement.  The  amendment  comprised  all  the  chief  demands  of 
the  Protestant  Irish  people,  ending  with  the  declaration  that  the 
king  and  Irish  Parliament  alone  had  the  right  to  make  laws  for 
Ireland.  These  were  merely  a  repetition  of  the  Dungannon  reso- 
lutions, with  the  exception  of  that  relating  to  Catholic  emancipation, 
which  was  not  expressly  mentioned.  The  amendment  was  unani- 
mously agreed  to.  The  next  part  of  the  proceedings  was  in  the 
English  Parliament.  On  ]\Iay  17  a  resolution  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Sixth  of  George  I.  was  proposed  in  the  Lords  by  the  Earl  of 
Shelburne,  and  in  the  Commons  by  Charles  James  Fox,  to  which 
both  houses  agreed. 

This  concession,  known  as  the  Act  of  Repeal,  was  communi- 
cated by  the  viceroy  to  the  Irish  Parliament  at  its  meeting  of 
May  27.  It  was  interpreted  to  mean  that  England  gave  Ire- 
land an  independent  Parliament,  over  which  it  renounced  all  au- 
thority, annulled  Poynings'  Law,  restored  to  the  Irish  Lords  the 
right  to  hear  appeals,  abolished  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  English 
Lords,  and  in  general  yielded  all  the  demands  of  Grattan's  amend- 
ments. The  news  was  received  in  Ireland  with  a  tremendous  out- 
burst of  joy,  both  in  the  House  and  among  the  people  all  over  the 
country,  and  as  an  evidence  of  gratitude,  the  Parliament  voted  to 
ihe  British  navy  20,000  men  and  100,000/. 


LEGISLATIVE     INDEPENDENCE        189 

1782-1783 

It  was  felt  and  acknowledged  that  this  consummation  was 
mainly  due  to  Grattan,  Lecky  says  of  him,  "  The  man  who,  during 
the  last  anxious  years,  had  stood  forth  from  his  countrymen,  be- 
yond all  rivalry  and  all  comparison,  was  Henry  Grattan.  His 
splendid  eloquence,  the  perfect  confidence  which  was  felt  in  his 
honor  and  in  his  disinterestedness,  the  signal  skill,  energy,  and 
moderation  with  which  he  had  at  once  anim.ated  and  controlled  the 
patriotic  party  were  universally  acknowledged,  and  at  this  time 
almost  universally  admired."  The  Irish  Parliament  voted  him  a 
grant  of  100,000/.  But  he  accepted  only  50,000/.^  and  even  that 
after  much  persuasion.  With  this  he  bought  an  estate  in  Queen's 
County,  and  he  took  up  his  permanent  residence  in  a  beautiful  spot 
that  he  loved — Tinnehinch,  near  Enniskerry  in  Wicklow,  twelve 
miles  from  Dublin. 

Flood  was  of  opinion  that  the  English  Parliament  should  have 
gone  farther  by  formally  renouncing  the  right  to  make  laws  for 
Ireland :  and,  as  confirming  his  view,  the  English  Parliament,  in 
January  of  the  following  year,  1783,  when  Lord  Shelburne  was 
prime  minister,  actually  passed  the  Act  of  Renunciation,  declar- 
ing that  Ireland's  right  to  be  bound  only  by  the  laws  made  by 
the  king  and  the  Irish  Parliament  was  "  established  and  ascertained 
forever,  and  shall  at  no  time  hereafter  be  questioned  or  ques- 
tionable." 


Chapter  XXXV 

GRATTAN'S    PARLIAMENT.     1 783-1 785 

ilFTER  1782  the  only  connection  between  the  two  Parlia- 
/\  ments  of  England  and  Ireland  was  that  the  king  was  head 
X  JL  of  both.  Beyond  this  they  were,  at  least  in  theory,  quite 
independent  of  one  another.  The  English  Parliament  was  free  to 
legislate  for  England,  but  not  for  Ireland;  and  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment could  make  any  laws  it  pleased  for  Ireland,  subject  only,  by 
the  constitution,  to  the  veto  of  the  king,  to  which  the  English  Parlia- 
ment was  also  subject.  But  now  this  free  Irish  Parliament  stood 
sadly  in  need  of  reform ;  for  it  was,  unhappily,  as  bad  a  type  of 
Parliament  as  could  well  be  conceived.  Bad  as  it  was,  however, 
Grattan  and  his  followers  were  only  too  glad  to  accept  it,  believing 
that  reform  would  come  in  due  course.  With  all  its  shortcomings, 
it  encouraged  trade  and  manufacture,  and  developed  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country;  so  that  Ireland  prospered  under  its  ad- 
ministration, as  will  be  further  noticed  in  the  next  chapter.  Let 
us  look  at  some  of  the  worst  features  of  this  Parliament. 

Of  the  300  members  more  than  100  were  pensioners  of  the 
government,  or  held  government  situations,  all  of  whom  voted  just 
as  they  were  directed  by  the  authorities.  Nearly  all  the  boroughs 
were  in  the  hands  of  a  few  lords  and  rich  men,  most  of  them  on 
the  side  of  the  government;  so  that  any  man  might  become  a 
member  of  Parliament  by  paying  a  sum  of  money  to  some  borough 
owner,  who  then  ordered  the  people  to  elect  him :  all  which  was  a 
very  money-making  business ;  for  sometimes  a  person  who  wanted 
to  be  elected  paid  as  much  as  10,000/.  for  his  seat.  A  Parliament 
ought  to  consist  of  members  elected  by  the  free  votes  of  those 
who  have  the  franchise — the  right  to  vote :  but,  of  the  300  members 
of  this  Parliament,  not  more  than  70  or  80  were  returned  by  the 
free  votes  of  the  people.  All  this  was  a  bad  state  of  things;  but 
it  was  hard  to  remedy,  for  these  placemen  and  borough  owners, 
and  those  whom  they  got  elected,  were  the  very  men  who  had  the 
making,  altering,  and  repealing  of  the  laws  in  their  hands.     Then, 

190 


GRATTAN'S     PARLIAMENT  191 

1783 

again,  the  spurious  boroughs  formed  in  the  time  of  the  Stuarts 
still  existed,  many  of  which  contained  only  about  a  dozen  electors ; 
so  that  it  was  always  easy,  by  merely  spending  a  little  money  in 
bribery,  to  have  persons  elected  who  would  back  up  the  government 
in  everything.  But,  perhaps,  the  worst  feature  was  that  the  Roman 
Catholics,  who  formed  four-fifths  of  the  population,  were  totally 
shut  out:  a  Catholic  could  neither  be  a  member  nor  vote  for  a 
member.  The  Parliament  did  not  represent  the'  nation;  and  it 
did  not  represent  even  the  Protestant  people.  Though  it  had  the 
name  of  being,  after  1782,  independent  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment, it  really  was  not  so;  for  the  Irish  authorities  were  directly 
under  the  influence  of  the  English  Council,  and  could  almost  always 
secure  a  majority  in  Parliament,  The  government  of  Ireland  was, 
in  fact,  a  sort  of  oligarchy,  in  which  the  people  of  the  country  had 
hardly  any  voice;  and  the  ministry  might  do  almost  what  they 
pleased.  There  never  was  a  Parliament  more  in  need  of  reform, 
and  reform  would  have  saved  it,  and  saved  the  country,  the  horrors 
of  1798. 

Two  great  questions  now  lay  before  the  country:  Parlia- 
mentary reform  and  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  which  still 
remained  on  Irish  commerce.  A  third  question  was  Catholic  eman- 
cipation; but  people's  minds  were  so  occupied  with  the  other  two, 
that  this  was  for  the  present  left  very  much  in  the  background. 
The  Volunteers  took  up  the  question  of  parliamentary  reform — 
the  all  important  reform  to  put  an  end  to  bribery  and  corruption — 
to  secure  that  all  the  members  of  Parliament  should  be  elected  by 
the  free  votes  of  the  people.  Several  meetings  were  held  at  which 
the  subject  was  discussed,  and  a  general  convention  in  Dublin  of 
delegates  from  all  the  Volunteer  corps  of  Ireland  was  arranged  for 
November  10,  1783;  all  which  proceedings  were  very  alarming  to 
the  government,  who  wanted  no  reform  of  any  kind  in  the  parlia- 
mentary representation.  The  Parliament  met  in  October.  The 
necessity  for  retrenchment  in  the  civil  administration,  which  had 
grown  costly  mainly  through  the  corruption  of  government,  was 
before  men's  minds,  and  w^as  strongly  advocated  by  Grattan ;  but 
Flood  proposed  a  reduction  in  the  army,  in  which  the  sense  of  the 
house  was  against  him,  and  Grattan  opposed  the  proposal  with  much 
vehemence.  Between  these  two  great  men  an  estrangement  had 
been  gradually  growing  up :  and,  in  one  of  the  debates  on  Flood's 
motion,  there  occurred  a  bitter  and  very  lamentable  altercation  be- 


192  IRELAND 

1783-1784 

tween  them,  which  terminated  their  friendship  forever.  Yet,  sub- 
sequently, each  bore  generous  testimony  to  the  greatness  of  the 
other. 

November  lo  came  and  i6o  Volunteer  delegates  assembled 
in  the  Rotunda,  in  Dublin.  They  elected  as  chairman  the 
Earl  of  Charlemont,  the  commander  of  the  whole  force.  The 
meeting  was  held  while  the  Parliament  was  sitting  close  by;  and, 
after  much  discussion,  certain  reforms  were  agreed  to,  which  were 
introduced  immediately  afterward  into  Parliament  by  Flood  in  the 
form  of  a  bill.  The  debate  was  a  stormy  one,  and  the  scene  in  the 
old  Parliament  House  is  described  as  "  almost  terrific."  Barry 
Yelverton,  afterward  Lord  Avonmore,  now  attorney-general,  and 
of  course  on  the  government  side,  led  the  opposition  to  the  bill, 
at  the.  same  time  denouncing  vehemently  the  attempt  to  coerce  the 
Parliament  by  an  armed  body  of  men;  and  John  Fitzgibbon,  now 
the  leading  opponent  of  reform,  and  others,  followed  in  the  same 
strain.  Flood,  in  a  powerful  speech,  advocated  the  bill  and  de- 
fended the  action  of  the  Volunteers.  Grattan  supported  it,  but  not 
very  earnestly,  for  he  maintained  it  v.-as  not  the  right  time  to  bring 
it  forward;  and  John  Philpot  Curran,  who  had  been  elected  for 
Kilbeggan  this  same  year,  1783,  made  his  first  parliamentary 
speech  in  favor  of  it.  But  the  government  party  were  too  strong, 
and  the  bill  was  rejected  by  a  large  majority.  Thus  the  efforts  of 
the  Popular  Party  to  reform  a  corrupt  Parliament  ended,  for  the 
present,  in  failure  through  government  opposition.  The  result  pro- 
duced great  indignation,  and  there  were  serious  fears  of  a  collision 
between  the  Volunteers  and  the  government;  but  the  counsels  of 
Lord  Charlemont  prevailed,  and  on  December  2  the  Volunteer 
convention  was  adjourned  without  any  day  being  fixed  for  the 
next  meeting.  This  was  the  death  blow  to  the  influence  of  the 
Volunteers;  and,  though  they  held  together  and  continued  to  be 
enrolled  for  years,  they  never  afterward  played  any  important  part 
in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country.  But  they  broke  away  from 
the  influence  of  Lord  Charlemont  and  became  more  revolutionary 
in  their  ideas,  after  the  example  of  France.  In  the  following  year 
(1784)  Plood  made  another  effort  at  reform,  but  the  Irish  Gov- 
ernment successfully  resisted  all  attempts  to  improve  the  repre- 
sentation. 

The  Volunteers,  deserted  by  their  leaders,  now  formed  them- 
selves into  clubs  and  associations,  and  held  secret  meetings.     In 


G II  A  T  T  A  N  '  S     PARLIAMENT  198 

1784-1785 

Dublin,  Belfast,  and  elsewhere,  they  began  to  drill  men  in  the  use 
of  arms,  Catholics  as  well  as  Protestants ;  whereupon  the  govern- 
ment increased  the  army  to  15,000  men,  and  took  measures  to  revive 
the  militia,  a  force  in  the  service  of  the  Crown,  But  the  people 
hated  the  militia,  and  the  country  became  greatly  disturbed.  Scenes 
of  violence  occurred  everywhere.  Even  in  Dublin  the  mobs  paraded 
the  streets,  attacked  and  maimed  soldiers,  broke  into  shops,  and 
ill-used  the  shopkeepers  for  selling  English  goods.  It  was  a  time 
of  great  trouble  and  alarm. 

The  commercial  arrangements  between  England  and  Ireland 
needed  reform  as  much  as  did  the  parliamentary  representation ; 
for  the  regulations  for  the  export  and  import  of  goods  betw'een  the 
tw^o  countries  were  all  unfair  to  Ireland.  There  were  prohibitory 
duties  on  many  kinds  of  Irish  goods  exported  to  England,  but  little 
or  none  on  English  goods  brought  to  Ireland ;  so  that  w^hile  Eng- 
lish manufacturers  and  traders  had  free  scope  to  sell  their  goods  in 
Ireland,  the  Irish  could  not  sell  theirs  in  England,  which  repressed 
the  little  that  remained  of  Irish  commerce  and  manufactures,  and 
helped  to  keep  the  country  in  a  state  of  poverty. 

A  movement  was  now  made  to  remedy  this  state  of  things ;  and 
here  the  Irish  Government  were  on  the  side  of  reform,  though  their 
ideas  fell  very  short  of  those  of  the  opposition.  Thomas  Orde. 
chief  secretary,  on  the  suggestion  of  William  Pitt,  then  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  in  England,  brought  down  from  the  castle,  on*  the 
part  of  the  government,  a  scheme  designed  by  Pitt,  embodied  in 
eleven  propositions,  which  would  go  far  to  remedy  the  injustice, 
all  of  w^hich  were  agreed  to  and  passed  through  Parliament  in  the 
shape  of  resolutions  (in  1785).  They  were  forthwith  transmitted 
to  England  for  adoption  there ;  for  as  the  restrictions  had  been  the 
work  of  the  English  Parliament,  it  was  only  in  England  they  could 
be  removed.  But  when  they  were  proposed  by  Pitt,  there  arose 
violent  opposition;  petitions  against  them  poured  in  from  com- 
panies, manufacturers,  and  merchants,  in  all  parts  of  England, 
who  insisted  on  maintaining  the  arrangements  which  were  for 
the  advantage  of  themselves  and  for  the  disadvantage  of  Ire- 
land. Whereupon  Pitt,  fearing  to  face  the  storm,  abandoned 
Orde's  bill,  and  brought  down  to  the  English  Parliament  twenty 
propositions  of  his  own,  much  less  favorable  to  Ireland — con- 
taining several  injurious  restrictions — and  had  them  passed.  These, 
on   being   transmitted   to   the   Irish    Government,    and    introduced 


194  IRELAND 

1785 

by  them  to  the  Irish  House  in  August,  1785,  were  received  by  the 
opposition  with  an  outburst  of  indignation.  Flood  led  the  oppo- 
sition with  all  his  old  fire  and  energy.  Grattan  denounced  the 
propositions  in  one  of  his  finest  speeches;  and  after  an  all-night 
stormy  debate,  the  government  had  so  small  a  majority — only  19 — 
that  they  thought  it  more  prudent  to  withdraw  the  bill;  which 
caused  great  rejoicings  in  Dublin.  Thus  the  whole  scheme  of  re- 
form, both  parliamentary  and  commercial,  fell  through,  and  matters 
remained  much  as  they  were  till  the  time  of  the  Union. 


Chapter  XXXVI 

REVIVAL    OF    SECRET    SOCIETIES.    1 785-1791 

DURING  the  year  1785  discontent  prevailed  everywhere  in 
Ireland,  for  which  there  were  various  sufficient  causes. 
The  Catholics  were  still  oppressed  by  the  penal  laws,  and 
the  farmers  of  all  religions  were  harassed  by  middlemen.  But 
tithes  and  tithe-proctors  were  perhaps  the  most  potent  influence  for 
disturbance  about  this  time.  All  householders,  Catholics  and  Dis- 
senters as  well  as  Anglican  Protestants,  had  to  pay  "  Tithes  "  for 
the  support  of  the  clergy  of  the  Established  Church.  These  would 
no  doubt  have  been  generally  paid  quietly  enough  but  for  the  action 
of  persons  called  "  tithe-proctors,"  or  **  tithe-farmers,"  who  col- 
lected them  for  absentee  clergymen,  or  for  those  who  were  resi- 
dent, but  who  for  various  reasons  were  not  willing  to  enter  per- 
sonally on  the  business  of  collection.  These  proctors,  some  of  them 
Catholics,  some  Protestants,  commonly  received  a  fixed  proportion 
of  the  tithes — a  third  or  a  fourth — to  pay  for  collection,  so  that  it 
was  to  their  interest  to  raise  as  much  money  as  possible,  and  they 
extorted  from  the  very  poorest  of  the  peasantry  contributions  far 
beyond  what  the  law  contemplated.  Moreover,  grazing  lands  were 
exempt,  so  that  the  impost  fell  chiefly  on  poor  cottiers.  A  rich 
grazier  with  two  or  three  thousand  a  year  paid  no  tithes,  while 
a  half  starved  cottier  had  to  pay  them  for  his  little  plot;  and  this 
again  discouraged  tillage  and  tended  to  make  grass  land  of  the 
whole  country.  The  people  also  of  all  denominations  had  to  pay 
"  Church-rate,"  or  "  Church-cess,"  a  tax  to  keep  the  Protestant 
churches  in  repair.  The  payment  of  tithes  and  church-rate  was 
resented  by  the  Presbyterians  even  more  bitterly  than  by  the 
Catholics.  Although  it  would  have  been  quite  easy  to  provide  a 
remedy  for  tithes — something  like  the  measure  adopted  half  a  cen- 
tury later  (in  1838) — and  though  any  reasonable  proposal  of  the 
kind  would  have  been  approved  by  the  authorities  in  England, 
the  Irish  Government  obstinately  resisted  every  attempt  to  settle 

195 


196  IRELAND 

1786-1786 

the  matter,  in  spite  of  the  earnest  representations  of  Grattan  and 
his  party. 

All  through  1785  and  1786  the  country  was  fearfully  dis- 
turbed, and  the  peasantry  formed  themselves  into  illegal  secret 
societies.  In  the  south  there  was  a  revival  of  the  Whiteboys,  now 
calling  themselves  "  Rightboys,"  led  by  an  imaginary  "  Captain 
Right."  These  misguided  men,  like  the  Whiteboys,  committed  out- 
rages on  agents,  middlemen,  tithe-proctors,  and  others.  The  tithe- 
proctors  especially,  who  had  rendered  themselves  intensely  odious 
by  their  cruel  extortions,  were  pursued  mercilessly,  often  mutilated, 
and  sometimes  killed.  Another  class,  who  were  mostly  blameless, 
the  Protestant  curates,  always  present  to  bear  the  odium,  and  striv- 
ing to  live  on  poor  incomes  of  40/.  or  50/.  a  year,  often  suffered 
grievous  ill-treatment. 

In  the  North — in  Armagh,  Tyrone,  and  Down — another  secret 
society  had  grown  up  among  Protestants  and  Presbyterians,  called 
"  Peep-o'-day  Boys,"  and  afterwards  known  as  "  Protestant  Boys  " 
and  "  Wreckers."  These  directed  their  hostilities  against  Catholics, 
who  again  in  self-defense  formed  themselves  into  bands  called 
"  Defenders."  These  two  parties,  who  belonged  generally  to  the 
lowest  class  of  the  peasantry,  did  immense  damage — fought,  maimed 
and  killed  each  other,  and  otherwise  caused  great  disorder. 

The  authorities  were  very  much  alarmed  at  the  state  of  the 
country,  and  there  were  long  and  anxious  discussions  as  to  the  best 
means  of  restoring  quiet.  So  far  as  Dublin  was  concerned — for 
the  city  was  as  much  troubled  as  the  north  and  south — a  plan  was 
adopted,  though  after  some  opposition,  which  ultimately  turned 
out  an  excellent  and  successful  one:  the  government  had  a  bill 
passed  for  the  appointment  of  a  number  of  constables  to  aid  the 
city  watchmen.  This  small  body  of  men  originated  the  present 
splendid  force  of  the  Dublin  metropolitan  police. 

Fitzgibbon,  who  was  now  the  leading  influence  against  reme- 
dial meaures  of  every  kind,  attempted  to  pnt  down  the  disturbances 
by  causing  the  government  to  pass  a  crushing  crimes  bill,  that  is, 
a  bill  to  give  more  power  to  the  authorities  to  apprehend  and  pun- 
ish the  disturbers.  Grattan  was  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  some 
bill  of  the  kind,  but  he  wished  for  one  much  less  severe,  and  he 
succeeded  in  having  struck  out  some  very  violent  and  dangerous 
clauses  inserted  by  Fitzgibbon,  and  in  limiting  the  duration  of  the 
bill  to  three  years.     He  endeavored  also  to  have  a  parliamentary 


SECRET     SOCIETIES  197 

1786-1791 

inquiry  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  the  discontent  and  disorders,  with 
a  view  to  their  removal ;  but  here  he  was  overruled,  and  this  "  En- 
gine of  Redress,"  as  he  called  it,  was  rejected. 

The  Popular  Party  in  Parliament  continued  as  vigilant  and 
active  as  ever,  and  gave  the  government  great  trouble.  The  usual 
means  were  employed  to  break  down  their  influence;  but  though 
the  country  had  long  been  accustomed  to  this,  probably  at  no  pre- 
vious period  was  there  so  much  gross  political  corruption  as  during 
the  lord  lieutenancy  of  the  IMarquis  of  Buckingham  from  1787  to 
1790.  He  bribed  openly  and  unsparingly,  wherever  he  thought  it 
would  purchase  supporters  for  the  Court  Party;  and  he  dismissed 
all  holders  of  government  offices  who  showed  any  disposition  to 
oppose  him.  Numbers  of  persons  were  made  peers  and  baronets, 
and  many  peers  were  promoted;  and  he  added  13,000/.  a  year  to 
the  pension  list  which  before  his  time  had  grown  to  the  yearly  sum 
of  100,000/.  He  became  at  last  intensely  unpopular,  and  when  he 
retired  he  had  to  steal  away  from  Dublin  by  night. 

During  the  year  1790  the  north  was  far  more  disturbed  than 
the  south ;  and  the  Peep-o'-day  Boys  and  the  Defenders  increased 
and  multiplied,  continued  their  outrages,  and  fought  their  battles. 
Among  the  better  educated  classes,  w^ho  saw  no  hope  of  reform  by 
parliamentary  and  constitutional  means,  the  doctrines  of  the  French 
Revolution  found  many  supporters.  Committees  were  formed, 
partly  to  stem  the  tide  of  political  corruption,  and  partly  to  discuss 
the  best  methods  of  government.  The  members  of  the  Popular 
Party,  who  had  been  the  leading  men  in  the  old  Volunteers,  formed 
themselves  into  clubs  which  greatly  influenced  public  opinion ;  of 
which  the  Whig  Club  in  Dublin,  and  the  Northern  Whig  Club  in 
Belfast,  were  specially  prominent.  Both  of  them  included  among 
their  members  many  historic  personages :  Lord  Charlemont,  Lord 
Moira,  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  Grattan,  Na]^per  Tandy,  John  Phil- 
pot  Curran,  Wolfe  Tone,  and  others.  Tliese  clubs  unsparingly 
exposed  the  evil  system  of  the  government ;  but  the  government, 
safe  in  its  pensioned  and  corrupt  majority,  continued  its  course 
unchanged. 

The  Ulster  Presbyterians  w^re  specially  active  and  earnest  in 
these  movements.  The  anniversary  of  the  taking  of  the  Bastile, 
the  great  government  prison  in  Paris,  by  the  Revolutionists  two 
years  before,  was  celebrated  in  Belfast  in  July,  1791,  by  the  North- 
em  Whig  Club,  joined  by  all  the  Volunteers  of  tlie  neighborhood. 


198  IRELAND 

17S1 

in  a  great  procession,  with  drums,  banners,  and  flags,  on  which  were 
depicted  various  scenes  enacted  at  the  Revolution.  The  celebration 
ended  with  a  banquet,  where  such  toasts  were  drunk  as  "  The 
National  Assembly  of  France,"  "  The  Rights  of  Man,"  etc.,  and 
where  proper  representation  in  Parliament,  and  the  complete 
emancipation  of  the  Catholics  were  demanded.  There  was  nothing 
illegal  in  these  proceedings,  but  they  gave  great  uneasiness  to  the 
government,  who,  with  the  example  of  France  before  them,  looked 
on  all  such  movements  with  apprehension. 

Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  a  man  of  great  determination,  quite 
unselfish,  and  of  remarkable  persuasive  power,  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  leaders  of  public  opinion  in  those  times.  Though 
a  Protestant,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  to  the  Catholic  Committee 
in  Dublin,  which  brought  the  Catholics  into  closer  connection  with 
the  Presbyterians.  In  the  same  year  he  visited  Belfast,  and  think- 
ing the  Northern  Whig  Club  not  sufficiently  advanced,  he  founded, 
in  October,  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  the  members  of  which 
were  chiefly  Presbyterians.  The  objects  of  this  society,  which  were 
quite  legal,  were:  to  unite  people  of  all  classes  and  religions  in  one 
great  organization,  this  main  idea  being  indicated  in  the  very  name 
— United  Irishmen ;  to  reform  Parliament  so  as  to  break  down  the 
corrupting  influence  of  the  government;  and  to  remove  the  griev- 
ances of  all  Irishmen  of  every  religious  persuasion.  This  last 
chiefly  aimed  at  the  repeal  of  the  Penal  Laws  against  Catholics,  for 
the  leaders  believed  that  if  all  the  people  of  the  country  were  united, 
their  demand  for  reform  could  not  be  resisted.  Tone  next  formed 
a  branch  of  the  society  in  Dublin  under  the  auspices  of  the  Catholic 
Committee;  James  Napper  Tandy,  a  Protestant  shopkeeper  in 
Dublin,  was  its  secretary. 

Yet  with  all  this  unrest  and  disturbance,  business  of  every  kind 
was  extending,  and  the  country  was  rapidly  advancing  in  prosperity. 
This  was  due  to  several  causes,  of  which  the  principal  were :  the 
removal  of  the  most  ruinous  of  the  restrictions  on  trade;  the  relief 
of  Catholics  from  their  worst  disabilities,  which  enabled  them  to 
take  part,  and  invest  their  capital,  in  industries;  and  the  restoration 
of  the  freedom  of  Parliament,  which  gave  the  authorities  a  free 
hand  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country. 

Let  us  now  interrupt  the  purely  political  history,  in  order  to 
trace  the  advances  made,  and  the  checks  suffered,  by  the  Catholics, 
in  their  efforts  to  free  themselves  from  their  remaining  hardships. 


Chapter  XXXVII 

CATHOLIC    EMANCIPATION.    1 792-1 795 

MORE  than  thirty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  CathoHc  Com- 
mittee had  been  founded.  Its  original  purpose,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  to  look  after  Catholic  interests  in  general, 
and  especially  to  obtain  a  relaxation  or  repeal  of  the  Penal  Laws. 
The  members  felt  that  this  business  gave  them  quite  enough  to  do, 
and  as  a  body  they  did  not  mix  themselves  up  much  in  other  polit- 
ical movements.  They  had  no  wish  to  come  in  conflict  with  the 
government,  and  they  were  not  much  influenced  by  the  revolutionary 
ideas  so  prevalent  at  this  time  among  the  Presbyterians.  Indeed 
it  was  only  among  the  prosperous  business  Catholics  of  the  towns 
that  there  appeared  much  political  life  of  any  kind.  The  great 
body  of  Catholics  through  the  country  had  been  during  the  whole 
of  the  century  so  depressed,  and  had  been  reduced  to  such  a  state  of 
ignorance  that  they  had  hardly  a  thought  or  an  opinion  on  anything 
beyond  the  necessaries  of  life,  with  a  vague  consciousness  that  they 
were  suffering  under  wrongs  which  ought  to  be  removed. 

There  were  two  parties  in  the  Catholic  Committee,  the  Aris- 
tocratic and  the  Democratic.  The  former  included  the  Catholic 
nobility  and  the  Catholic  bishops :  they  looked  with  horror  on  the 
French  Revolution  and  its  excesses,  and  were  inclined  to  be  timid 
in  agitating  for  their  own  emancipation.  The  Democratic  party 
consisted  chiefly  of  business  men,  of  whom  the  ablest  and  most 
far-seeing  was  John  Keogh,  a  Dublin  merchant.  These  were  for 
pressing  their  claims  boldly,  including  the  right  to  vote  at  elections, 
which  the  Aristocratic  party  wished  to  postpone  to  some  future 
time.  This  question  was  eagerly  and  warmly  discussed;  and  in 
order  to  clear  themselves  from  even  the  suspicion  of  sympathy  with 
revolutionary  principles,  sixty-four  timid  members  of  the  Aristo- 
cratic party  seceded  from  the  committee. 

The  action  of  the  democratic  section  had  the  approval  of  tlie 
general  body  of  outside  Catholics ;  and  they  carried  their  point, 
notwithstanding  the  defection  of  the  aristocratic  members. 

199 


200  IRELAND 

1792-1793 

On  December  2,  1792,  they  convened  a  meeting  of  Catho- 
lic delegates  from  different  parts  of  Ireland  in  the  Tailors'  Hall, 
a  spacious  building  in  Back  Lane,  Dublin — whence  this  assemblage 
is  sometimes  called  the  "  Back  Lane  Parliament " — at  which  a  peti- 
tion to  the  king  was  prepared,  asking  for  admission  to  all  the  rights 
of  the  constitution.  It  was  signed  by  Dr.  Troy,  Catholic  Archbishop 
of  Dublin,  by  Dr.  Moylan,  Bishop  of  Cork,  and  by  all  the  country 
delegates.  As  they  believed,  with  good  reason,  that  the  English 
Government  was  better  disposed  toward  them  than  the  Irish,  they 
commissioned  John  Kcogh  and  four  other  delegates  to  present  the 
petition  to  the  king  direct,  instead  of  following  the  usual  course 
of  sending  it  through  the  Irish  authorities.  On  their  T^-ay  to  Eng- 
land the  delegates  passed  through  Belfast,  where  they  had  a  grand 
reception :  the  Presbyterian  populace  unyoked  the  horses  from  the 
carriage,  and  drew  Keogh  and  his  companions  in  triumph  through 
the  streets.  On  January  2,  1793,  the  petition  was  presented  to  His 
Majesty,  who  received  it  very  graciously. 

The  wisdom  of  Keogh  and  his  party  was  proved  by  what  hap- 
pened soon  afterward.  In  the  dangerous  and  uncertain  state  of 
things  on  the  Continent,  wdth  the  rapid  spread  of  sympathy  in  Ire- 
land for  the  Revolution,  and  while  a  w^ar  with  France  was  quite 
probable,  it  was  considered  of  great  consequence  that  the  Catholics 
should  be  well  affected  toward  the  government.  Accordingly,  on 
April  9,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  the  English  ministers,  aided 
by  the  powerful  advocacy  of  Grattan  and  his  party,  but  much  against 
the  wishes  of  the  Irish  Government,  a  bill  was  passed  through  the 
Irish  Parliament  which  granted  the  Catholics  a  substantial  measure 
of  relief.  The  franchise  was  restored  to  them,  so  that  all  who  were 
Forty-shilling  Freeholders  had  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of 
Parliament;  and  as  since  1778  these  freeholders  had  grown  very 
numerous,  this  measure  gave  the  Irish  Catholics  great  political  in- 
fluence. Besides  this  important  concession,  they  were  permitted  by 
the  act  to  enter  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  obtain  degrees;  almost 
all  civil  and  military  situations  were  opened  to  them ;  they  could 
serve  on  juries  and  be  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  higher  classes 
of  Catholics  were  allowed  to  carry  arms.  They  might  open  colleges 
to  be  affiliated  with  Trinity  College,  provided  they  w^ere  not  exclu- 
sively for  the  education  of  Catholics.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
insert  a  clause  admitting  them  to  Parliament,  but  this  wise  pro- 
vision the  Irish  Gf)vernment  unhappily  succeeded  in  defeating. 


CATHOLIC     EMANCIPATION  201 

1793 

In  order  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  act  it  was  necessary  to  take 
the  Oath  of  Allegiance,  which,  however,  any  Catholic  might  take. 
But  many  disabilities  still  remained,  the  nx)st  serious  of  which  was 
that  no  Catholic  could  sit  in  Parliament;  neither  could  a  Catholic 
be  lord  lieutenant,  or  lord  chancellor,  or  a  privy  councilor,  or  a 
fellow  of  Trinity  College,  or  a  sheriff  or  sub-sheriff.  Still  the 
measure  was  a  great  relief,  and  the  Catholics  were  very  grateful  for 
it;  but  its  conciliatory  effect  was  much  marred  by  the  bitterness  with 
which  Lord  Chancellor  Fitzgibbon  spoke  of  his  Catholic  fellow- 
countrymen,  though  he  dared  not  oppose  the  bill.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  same  session  two  coercion  acts  were  passed:  the 
Convention  Act  against  "  unlawful  assemblies,"  intended  to  pre- 
vent meetings  of  delegates  such  as  the  "  Back  Lane  Parliament," 
as  well  as  delegate  meetings  of  the  United  Irishmen ;  and  the  Gun- 
powder Act  to  prevent  the  importation  and  sale  of  gunpowder 
and  arms,  and  to  give  magistrates  the  power  of  searching  for  arms 
wherever  and  whenever  they  pleased,  which  applied  to  Protestants 
as  well  as  Catholics.  This  last  was  intended  as  a  precaution  against 
the  danger  of  disaffection  in  case  of  an  invasion ;  for  the  French  and 
English  were  by  this  time  at  war,  and  the  dangerous  sympathy  of 
the  United  Irishmen  for  the  French  Revolutionary  party  was  well 
known  to  the  government. 

The  Society  of  United  Irishmen  in  Belfast  and  Dublin  so  far 
had  nothing  illegal  in  it.  Still  the  government  kept  a  strict  watch 
on  these  United  Irishmen,  as  well  as  on  the  Catholic  Committee, 
and  all  such  associations,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  prosecutions  in 
case  they  should  be  found  to  transgress  the  law  as  it  then  stood. 

At  a  meeting  of  United  Irishmen  held  in  Dublin  in  February, 
1793,  with  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler  as  chairman,  and  Oliver  Bond,  a 
Dublin  merchant,  as  secretary,  an  address  was  adopted  and  cir- 
culated, boldly  censuring  the  conduct  of  a  committee  of  the  House 
of  Lords  for  having  in  an  illegal  manner  conducted  a  secret  inquiry 
into  the  proceedings  of  the  Defenders.  For  this,  Butler  and  Bond 
were  sentenced  by  the  committee,  without  any  regular  trial,  to  be 
imprisoned  for  six  months  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  500/.  each. 

Archibald  Hamilton  Rowan,  the  son  of  a  landed  proprietor 
of  Ulster,  who  had  been  conspicuous  as  a  Volunteer,  and  was  now  a 
United  Irishman,  circulated  an  address  to  the  Volunteers,  written 
by  Dr.  Drennan,  a  well-known  and  very  talented  literary  man,  an 
Ulstei    Presbvterian,    anrl    the    writer   of    many    stirring   national 


202  IRELAND 

1793-1794 

ballads  and  addresses.  For  this  Rowan  was  prosecuted,  and  was 
defended  with  great  ability  by  Curran.  He  was  convicted  of  a 
seditious  libel,  and  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for  two  years,  and  to 
pay  a  fine  of  500/.  While  Rowan  was  in  prison  an  emissary  from 
France,  the  Rev.  William  Jackson,  a  Protestant  clergyman  of  Irish 
extraction,  arrived  in  Ireland  to  sound  the  popular  leaders  about  a 
French  invasion.  He  had  with  him  a  London  attorney  named 
Cockayne,  to  whom  he  had  confided  the  object  of  his  mission ;  but 
Cockayne  was  really  a  spy  paid  by  the  English  Government.  These 
two  had  interviews  with  the  leading  United  Irishmen  in  Dublin — 
Wolfe  Tone,  Leonard  Mac  Nally,  Hamilton  Rowan,  then  in  the 
Dublin  Newgate  prison,  and  others.  Mac  Nally  was  a  Dublin 
attorney,  who  managed  the  legal  business  of  the  United  Irishmen; 
he  was  trusted  by  them  with  their  innermost  secrets,  and  lived  and 
died  in  their  friendship  and  confidence,  but  long  after  his  death  it 
was  discovered  that  he  was  all  the  time  a  spy  in  government  pay. 
Tone  drew  out  a  report  on  the  state  of  Ireland  for  Jackson,  who 
kept  a  copy  of  it  in  Rowan's  handwriting. 

When  the  government,  who  knew  through  Cockayne  all  that 
was  going  on,  thought  matters  sufficiently  ripe,  they  arrested  Jack- 
son on  April  28,  1794.  Rowan,  knowing  that  his  handwriting 
would  betray  him,  contrived  to  escape  on  May  i,  and  although  a 
reward  of  1500/.  was  offered  for  his  arrest,  he  made  his  way  to 
France  and  thence  to  America.  On  April  23  in  the  following  year 
Jackson  was  tried  and  convicted  of  treason  on  the  evidence  of 
Cockayne.  He  had  managed,  however,  to  take  a  dose  of  arsenic 
before  coming  into  court,  and  dropped  dead  in  the  dock. 

But  now  happened  an  event  which  gave  the  Catholics  hopes 
of  complete  emancipation.  Toward  the  end  of  1794  people's 
minds  became  greatly  excited  in  Ireland  when  it  became  known  that 
Pitt  had  determined  to  adopt  a  policy  of  conciliation,  to  drop  coer- 
cion, and  to  remove  all  the  remaining  restrictions  against  Catholics. 
With  these  objects  in  view"  Lord  Westmoreland  was  recalled,  and 
Earl  Fitzwilliam,  a  just,  liberal,  and  enlightened  man,  having  large 
estates  in  Ireland,  came  over  as  lord  lieutenant  on  January  4,  with 
full  authority  and  with  the  firm  determination,  which  he  did  not 
conceal,  to  completely  emancipate  the  Catholics ;  and  they  gave  him 
an  enthusiastic  reception,  for  his  intentions  had  become  known. 
The  proposed  measure  would,  as  Pitt  believed,  attach  the  body  of 
the  Catholics  to  the  empire,  a  thing  of  vital  importance;  for  the 


CATHOLIC     EMANCIPATION  ?-03 

1794 

French  were  at  this  time  everywhere  victorious  on  the  Continent, 
and  there  were  fears  of  an  invasion. 

Fitzwilliam  at  once  applied  himself  to  the  work  entrusted  to 
him.  He  removed  Edward  Cooke  from  the  post  of  under-secre- 
tary,  on  a  pension  of  1200/.  a  year;  and  also  John  Beresford,  the 
commissioner  of  customs,  whose  relatives  held  most  of  the  lucrative 
offices  of  his  department,  and  who  retired  on  full  pay.  Both  of 
these  had  been  identified  with  the  system  Lord  Fitzwilliam  came  to 
break  up.  In  the  joy  of  the  good  news,  Parliament,  on  the  motion 
of  Grattan,  voted  200,000/.  for  the  expenses  of  the  navy  in  the 
war  now  going  on  with  France,  and  20,000  men  for  the  army.  The 
whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  excitement ;  innumerable  petitions 
poured  in  from  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike ;  and  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  one  of  the  strongest  addresses  in  favor  of  the  intended 
measure  came  from  the  purely  Protestant  corporation  of  Derry,  the 
descendants  of  the  very  men  who  had  so  valiantly  defended  the  city 
a  century  before  against  the  army  of  the  Catholic  King  James. 

As  the  first  direct  move,  Grattan,  having  previously  arranged 
the  matter  with  the  viceroy,  brought  in  a  bill,  on  February  12, 
for  the  admission  of  Catholics  to  Parliament;  and  there  was 
almost  perfect  agreement  on  the  question  in  the  whole  house.  But 
an  unexpected  obstacle  arose  which  disconcerted  all  the  plans  for 
reform,  and  dashed  the  hopes  of  the  country.  A  small  mischievous 
clique  at  the  Castle,  led  by  Fitzgibbon,  Beresford,  and  Cooke,  took 
determined  steps  to  defeat  the  bill.  Beresford  went  to  England  and 
had  an  interview  with  the  king,  to  whom  he  made  bitter  complaints, 
while  Fitzgibbon  submitted  an  elaborate  statement  to  show  that  His 
Majesty  could  not  consent  to  Emancipation  without  breaking  the 
coronation  oath.  Between  them  they  seem  to  have  persuaded  the 
king  that  the  Protestant  religion  was  in  danger.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  appear  that  Pitt  and  the  rest  of  the  English  Cabinet 
permitted  themselves  to  be  intimidated  by  Beresford  and  Cooke. 

While  all  this  was  going  on  in  England,  Fitzwilliam  was 
allowed  to  proceed  openly  with  the  measure  in  Dublin ;  and  when 
the  whole  country  was  in  a  flutter  of  expectation,  and  after  the 
large  supplies  mentioned  above  had  been  voted,  the  English  minis- 
ter turned  right  round ;  the  king  refused  his  consent,  without  which 
no  measure  could  pass ;  orders  were  sent  to  stop  the  bill,  and  the 
whole  matter  came  to  an  end.  Emancipation  was  abandoned, 
Beresford  was  restored,  and  the  old  policy  of  hostility  to  Catholics 


204  IRELAND 

1794-1795 

was  resumed.  Earl  Fitzwilliam  was  recalled  and  left  Ireland  on 
March  25.  He  was  escorted  by  sorrowing  crowds  to  the  water 
side,  and  his  coach  was  drawn  along  by  some  of  the  leading 
citizens,  while  the  shops  were  closed  and  the  city  put  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  mourning :  mourning  and  gloom  with  good  reason,  for 
by  that  fatal  blow  the  joyous  loyalty  of  the  whole  country  was 
suddenly  changed  to  sullen  distrust,  discontent,  and  disloyalty. 
And  as  if  to  show  in  the  clearest  way  that  the  government  ap- 
proved of  what  had  been  done,  Fitzgibbon,  one  of  the  chief  agents 
in  bringing  about  the  withdrawal  of  the  bill,  was  immediately  after- 
ward made  Earl  of  Clare.  That  cruel  disappointment  spread  sor- 
row and  indignation  all  over  the  country,  not  only  among  the 
Catholics,  but  also  among  the  Protestants  of  the  two  parties — the 
moderates  led  by  Grattan  and  the  more  advanced  represented  by 
the  United  Irishmen ;  and  from  whatever  causes  it  may  have  arisen, 
it  was  in  a  great  measure  answerable  for  the  tremendous  evils  that 
followed. 

Later  on  in  this  same  year,  under  Fitzwilliam's  successor. 
Lord  Camden,  a  measure  was  passed  of  great  importance  to  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  Catholic  young  men  who  wished  to  become 
priests  had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  France  for  their 
education,  as  they  had  no  opportunity  for  study  at  home.  The 
government  were  well  aware  of  this;  and  as  they  feared  that  the 
young  priests,  after  so  long  a  residence  in  France,  might  come  back 
imbued  with  republican  or  revolutionary  ideas,  they  founded  the 
college  of  Maynooth  for  the  education  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  and 
endowed  it  with  an  annual  grant  of  8000/. 


Chapter    XXXVIII 

RIOT,    AND   TONE'S    INVASION.     i795-i797 

GLOOM  and  silence  had  marked  the  departure  of  Lord 
Fitzwilliam.  The  arrival  of  his  successor,  Lord  Camden, 
on  March  31,  1795,  was  signalized  b}^  a  furious  riot  in  the 
streets  of  Dublin;  several  houses  belonging  to  unpopular  members 
of  the  government  were  attacked ;  the  military  had  to  be  called  out, 
and  two  of  the  mob  were  killed.  The  people  all  over  the  country 
became  exasperated  and  desperate,  and  hoping  for  foreign  aid,  their 
leaders  came  to  the  fatal  determination  to  attempt  revolution  and  the 
establishment  of  a  republic.  The  United  Irishmen  banded  them- 
selves as  a  secret,  oath-bound,  and  of  course  illegal  society;  and 
their  republican  principles  were  spreading  fast  among  the  Catholics, 
but  the  government  were  kept  well  informed  of  their  proceedings 
through  Leonard  ]\Iac  Nally  and  others  within  their  body. 

The  great  majority  of  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  were 
Protestants,  who  were  all  for  Catholic  Emancipation.  But  in  many 
parts  of  Ulster  there  was,  all  along,  bitter  strife  between  the  lower 
classes  of  Catholics  and  Protestants;  strife  and  mutual  hatred  which 
had  been  kept  up  since  the  time  of  the  Plantation  nearly  two  cen- 
turies before.  Tone,  himself  a  Protestant,  had  done  all  in  his 
power  to  bring  them  to  friendly  union  and  cooperation,  but  in  vain ; 
religious  animosity  was  too  strong  for  him.  At  last  on  September 
21,  1795,  the  Defenders  and  the  I'eep-o'-day  Boys  fought  a  regular 
battle  at  a  village  called  the  Diamc^nd  in  Armagh.  The  Peep-o'- 
day  Boys,  though  inferior  in  number,  were  better  armed,  for  the 
others  could  not  keep  arms  unless  by  stealth,  and  the  Defenders 
were  routed  with  a  loss  of  twenty  or  thirty  killed. 

The  Protestants,  chiefly  of  the  Established  Church,  next,  as  a 
set-off  against  the  Defenders,  formed  a  new  secret  oath-bound 
society  called  Orangemen,  with  the  openly  expressed  intention  to 
expel  all  Catholics  from  Ulster:  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
oath  of  this  society  was  subsequently  abolished.  The  Catholics 
were  now,  for  some  years,  attacked  and  persecuted  by  the  Protestant 

205 


W6  IRELAND 

1795 

peasantry  in  many  of  the  Ulster  counties,  and  suffered  terribly  in 
person  and  propert5\  The  Protestant  magistrates  and  gentry  held 
meetings  and  endeavored  to  protect  them,  but  with  little  success; 
yet  they  gave  some  compensation  to  many  Catholics  whose  houses 
were  wrecked.  Great  numbers  of  inoffensive  industrious  Catholics 
were  driven  altogether  out  of  the  province,  and  took  refuge  in 
Connaught,  which  circumstance  again  extended  the  mischief — for 
they  inspired  the  people  among  whom  they  settled  with  their  own 
bitter  feelings.  Things  became  at  last  so  intolerable  that  General 
Craddock  was  sent  into  Ulster  with  the  military  to  restore  order, 
but  so  close  a  watch  was  kept  on  his  movements  that  he  found  it 
almost  impossible  to  arrest  the  bands  of  armed  Orangemen,  and  the 
evil  work  still  went  on.  The  more  respectable  members  of  the 
Orange  body  dissociated  themselves  from  these  proceedings,  and 
declared  that  the  worst  of  the  outrages  were  committed  by  bodies  of 
marauders  who,  though  adopting  the  name,  were  not  Orangemen 
at  all. 

The  Defenders  had  spread  rapidly  from  Ulster  into  various 
parts  of  the  middle  and  west  of  Ireland,  and  now,  like  the  White- 
boys,  they  applied  themselves  to  redressing  grievances  of  various 
kinds;  and  there  were  continual  nightly  disturbances,  so  that  peo- 
ple's minds  all  over  the  country  were  kept  in  a  state  of  painful 
anxiety.  General  Henry  Luttrell,  Lord  Carhampton,  was  sent  to 
Connaught  to  repress  them;  but  his  action  and  the  action  of  those 
who  aided  him  held  up  an  evil  example  to  the  people,  for  it  was 
almost  as  lawless  as  the  proceedings  of  the  Defenders  themselves. 
He  seized  all  who  were  in  the  jails  awaiting  trial,  and  the  magis- 
trates, imitating  him,  arrested  numbers  of  the  peasants  on  the  road- 
sides ;  and  all,  both  prisoners  and  peasants,  were,  without  any  trial, 
sent  off  to  serve  in  the  navy.  Most  of  these  men  never  saw  their 
families  again,  and  the  transaction  rankled  fearfully  among  the 
people. 

Meantime  the  society  of  United  Irishmen  spread,  until  finally 
it  numbered  500,000.  There  were  now  many  Catholics  among 
them,  for  the  Defenders,  on  the  invitation  of  the  United  Irish  lead- 
ers, joined  the  ranks  in  large  numbers.  But  to  the  last  the  con- 
federacy was  mainly  Protestant,  and  the  members  were  far  more 
numerous  and  active  in  Ulster  than  elsewhere.  In  1795  Lord 
Edward  Fitzgerald,  a  man  of  most  estimable  character,  brother  of 
the  Duke  of  Leinster,  joined  them.     As  a  major  in  the  British  army 


RIOT     AND     INVASION  207 

1795-1796 

he  had  served  with  credit  in  the  American  War,  and  on  his  return 
he  entered  the  Irish  Parliament  as  an  earnest  supporter  of  reform. 
The  government  dismissed  him  from  his  post  in  the  army  for 
openly  expressing  sympathy  with  the  French  Revolution.  In  the 
end  of  1796  the  society  was  joined  by  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  elder 
brother  of  Robert  Emmet,  by  Arthur  O'Connor,  formerly  member 
of  Parliament  for  Philipstown,  and  by  Dr.  William  J.  MacNevin 
of  Dublin,  one  of  the  few  Catholics  among  the  leaders. 

Tone,  who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Ireland  some  time  be- 
fore, had  been  arranging  in  Paris  for  a  French  invasion,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  make  Ireland  an  independent  republic.  In  May, 
1796,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  Arthur  O'Connor  went  to 
Hamburg,  and  O'Connor  had  an  interview  with  General  Hoche. 
The  matter  was  at  last  arranged.  On  December  15  a  fleet  of 
43  ships  of  war  with  15,000  troops  and  45,000  stands  of  arms, 
sailed  from  Brest  for  Ireland  under  General  Hoche.  General 
Grouchy  was  second  in  command,  and  with  him  sailed  Theobald 
Wolfe  Tone  as  adjutant-general.  The  authorities  were  badly  pre- 
pared to  repel  the  attack,  but  it  was  repelled  without  their  interven- 
tion. The  ships  were  dispersed  by  foul  winds  and  fogs,  and  only 
sixteen  that  had  kept  together  entered  Bantry  Bay.  Here  they 
waited  in  vain  for  General  Hoche,  whose  vessel  had  been  separated 
from  the  fleet  by  the  storm.  But  the  wild  weather  continued — 
tempest  and  snow — and  at  the  end  of  a  week,  Hoche  not  having 
come  up,  they  cut  their  cables  and  returned  to  France. 

Next  came  a  stringent  Insurrection  Act.  The  Habeas  Corpus 
Act  was  suspended,  which  suspension  gave  the  magistrates  the 
power  to  arrest  anyone  they  pleased.  General  Lake  got  command 
of  the  army  in  Ulster,  and  he  proclaimed  martial  law,  which  placed 
the  people  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  military.  He  arrested  two 
committees  of  United  Irishmen  sitting  in  Belfast,  and  seized  their 
papers,  which  disclosed  secrets  of  great  importance;  and  he  at- 
tempted to  disarm  all  Ulster,  seizing  great  numbers  of  muskets, 
cannons,  and  pikes.  But  he  did  not  succeed  in  taking  all :  in  a  little 
time  not  a  gun  or  a  pike  was  to  be  found  in  any  house,  for  they  were 
hidden  in  bogs  and  hedges  where  the  owners  could  find  them  at  any 
moment.  For  publishing  a  violent  address,  Arthur  O'Connor  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Dubliti,  and  the  jails  all  over  the  country 
were  filled  with  people  \vho  had  been  taken  up  on  suspicion  on  the 
evidence  of  spies. 


ao»  IRELAND 

1706- t 797 

The  yeomanry  were  called  out;  militia  regiments  were  sent 
over  from  England;  and  military,  yeomanry,  and  militia  were 
let  loose  on  the  people  with  little  or  no  restraint.  The  soldiers  were 
scattered  through  the  country  in  small  parties,  hilleted  and  living  in 
free  quarters  on  the  peasantry;  there  was  no  discipline;  and  they 
did  what  they  pleased  without  waiting  for  orders.  Fearful  brutal- 
ities were  perpetrated,  and  thousands  of  peaceable  people  were 
driven  in  desperation  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  United  Irishmen. 

For  a  good  part  of  1797  Ulster  was  really  in  rebellion,  though 
no  battles  were  fought;  the  United  Irishmen  spread  everywhere, 
and  practically  had  the  whole  province  in  subjection.  Some,  call- 
ing themselves  by  the  name,  committed  many  terrible  outrages; 
but  the  perpetrators  of  these  were  individuals  and  small  parties 
under  no  control,  and  they  were  denounced  by  the  responsible 
United  Irish  leaders,  just  as  the  evil-doers  on  the  other  side  were 
denounced  by  the.  leaders  of  the  Orange  party.  What  greatly  added 
to  the  horror  of  the  situation  in  the  north  was  the  bitter  animosity 
between  the  lower  classes  of  Protestants  and  Catholics,  each  side 
committing  frightful  cruelties  on  the  others  at  every  opportunity. 
During  the  whole  of  this  time  assurances  came  from  respectable 
classes  of  people  all  over  the  country,  especially  from  Ulster,  that 
the  concession  of  Parliament  Reform,  Catholic  Emancipation,  and 
a  satisfactory  arrangement  about  tithes  would  restore  quietness. 
In  the  month  of  May  Ponsonby  and  Grattan  brought  that  matter 
before  Parliament,  and  Grattan  produced  a  declaration  of  900  repre- 
sentative Ulstermen  of  substance  and  position,  a  large  proportion 
of  them  leading  United  Irishmen,  that  if  these  concessions  were 
granted  all  agitation  would  cease.  But  though  they  earnestly  urged 
the  adoption  of  these  reasonable  healing  measures,  the  government 
voted  them  down  four  to  one.  Wliereupon  Grattan  and  the  other 
leading  members  of  his  party,  despairing  of  doing  any  good,  and  as 
a  protest  against  the  conduct  of  the  government,  withdrew  from 
Parliament. 

There  was  yet  another  abortive  attempt  at  invasion.  A  Dutch 
fleet  with  15,000  men  commanded  by  Admiral  de  Winter  prepared 
to  sail  for  Ireland  in  July,  but  again  the  weather  interfered ;  they 
were  delayed  and  when  at  length  they  sailed,  the  fleet  was  utterly 
defeated  at  Camperdown  by  Admiral  Duncan. 


Chapter  XXXIX 

THE   REBELLION   OF   1798 

BELIEVING  it  impossible  to  bring-  about  reform  of  any  kind 
.  by  peaceable  means,  the  United  Irish  leaders,  in  an  evil  hour, 
determined  on  open  rebellion ;  but  the  government  were  kept 
well  informed  by  spies  of  their  secret  proceedings,  and  bided  their 
time  till  things  were  ripe  for  a  swoop.  They  knew  that  May  23 
had  been  fixed  as  the  day  of  rising.  On  March  12,  1798,  Major 
Swan,  a  magistrate,  acting  on  the  information  of  Thomas  Reynolds, 
arrested  Oliver  Bond  and  fourteen  other  delegates  assembled  in 
Bond's  house  in  Bridge  Street,  Dublin,  arranging  the  plan  of  re- 
bellion, and  seized  all  their  papers.  On  the  same  day  several  other 
leaders  were  arrested  in  their  homes. 

A  reward  of  1000/.  was  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  Lord 
Edward  Fitzgerald,  the  moving  spirit  of  the  confederacy.  After 
some  time  the  authorities  received  information  from  Francis  Hig- 
gins — commonly  known  as  the  "  Sham  Squire  " — that  he  was  con- 
cealed in  the  house  of  Nicholas  Murphy,  a  feather  merchant  of 
Thomas  Street,  Dublin.  Lord  Edward  was  lying  ill  in  bed,  when 
Major  Swan,  Yeomanry  Captain  Ryan,  and  a  soldier,  entered  the 
room ;  but  he  drew  a  dagger  and  struggled  desperately,  wounding 
Swan  and  Ryan.  Major  Sirr,  who  had  accompanied  the  party, 
now  rushed  in  with  half  a  dozen  soldiers,  and  taking  aim,  shot  Lord 
Edward  in  the  shoulder,  who  was  then  overpowered  and  taken 
prisoner.  But  on  June  4  he  died  of  his  wound  while  in  prison,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two.  On  May  21  two  brothers,  Henry  and  John 
Sheares,  barristers,  members  of  the  Dublin  directory  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  were  arrested.  They  were  convicted  on  July  12,  and 
hanged  two  days  afterward.  A  reprieve  for  Henry  came  too  late — 
five  minutes  after  the  execution. 

The  rising  took  place  early  in  the  morning  of  May  24.  It 
was  only  partial :  confined  cliiefly  to  the  counties  of  Kildare, 
Wicklow,  and  Wexford ;  and  there  were  some  slight  attem.pts  in 
Carlow,  Queen's  County,  iNIeath.  and  County  Dublin.     But  Dublin 

209 


210  IRELAND 

1798 

city  did  not  rise,  for  it  had  been  placed  under  martial  law,  and 
almost  all  of  the  leaders  there  had  been  arrested.  The  insurrection 
was  quite  premature,  and  the  people  were  almost  without  arms, 
without  discipline,  plan,  or  leaders.  On  May  26  a  body  of  4000 
insurgents  were  defeated  on  the  hill  of  Tara.  On  Whitsunday  the 
27th  the  rising  broke  out  in  Wexford.  There,  as  well  as  in  some 
of  the  neighboring  counties,  the  rebellion  assumed  a  sectarian  char- 
acter which  it  had  not  elsewhere ;  the  rebels  were  nearly  all  Roman 
Catholics,  though  many  of  their  leaders  were  Protestants.  This 
Wexford  rising  was  not  the  result  of  premeditation  or  of  any  con- 
cert with  the  Dublin  directory  of  the  United  Irishmen,  for  the 
society  had  not  made  much  headway  among  the  quiet  industrious 
peasants  of  that  county,  who  were  chiefly  descendants  of  English 
colonists.  Though  there  was  a  good  deal  of  disaffection  among 
them,  chiefly  caused  by  alarming  rumors  of  intended  massacres, 
they  did  not  want  to  rise.  They  were  driven  to  rebellion  simply 
by  the  terrible  barbarities  of  the  military,  the  yeomen,  and  more 
especially  the  North  Cork  militia ;  they  rose  in  desperation  without 
any  plan  or  any  idea  of  what  they  were  to  do,  and  in  their  vengeful 
fury  they  committed  many  terrible  outrages  on  the  Protestant 
loyalist  inhabitants,  in  blind  retaliation  for  the  far  worse  excesses 
of  the  militia. 

Father  John  Murphy,  parish  priest  of  Kilcormick  near  Ferns, 
finding  his  little  chapel  of  Boleyvogue  burned  by  the  yeomen,  took 
the  lead  of  the  rebels.  On  May  2y  the  peasantry  defeated  and 
annihilated  a  large  party  of  the  North  Cork  militia  on  the  Hill 
of  Oulart,  near  Enniscorthy.  Having  captured  800  stands  of  arms, 
they  next  marched  on  Enniscorthy;  and  by  the  stratagem  of  driv- 
ing a  herd  of  bullocks  before  them  to  break  the  ranks  of  the  mili- 
tary, they  took  the  town  after  a  struggle  of  four  hours,  on  which 
the  garrison  and  the  Protestant  inhabitants  fled  to  Wexford — fif- 
teen miles  off.  About  the  same  time  Gorey  was  abandoned  by  its 
garrison,  who  retreated  to  Arklow. 

At  the  end  of  May  the  insurgents  fixed  their  chief  encampment 
on  Vinegar  Hill,  an  eminence  rising  over  Enniscorthy,  at  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  Slaney.  While  the  camp  lay  here,  a  number  of 
Protestants,  brought  in  from  the  surrounding  country,  were  con- 
fined in  an  old  windmill  on  the  summit  of  the  hill,  many  of  whom, 
after  being  subjected  day  by  day  to  some  sort  of  trial,  were  put 
to  death.     On  ]^.Iay  30  a  detachment  of  military  was  attacked  and 


REBELLION     OF     1798  211 

1798 

destroyed  at  the  Three  Rocks,  four  miles  from  the  town  of  Wex- 
ford. The  insurgents  now  advanced  toward  Wexford,  but  the  gar- 
rison, consisting  chiefly  of  the  North  Cork  militia,  did  not  wait  to 
be  attacked — they  marched  away,  and  while  retreating  they  burned 
and  pillaged  the  houses  and  shot  the  peasantry  wherever  they  met 
them.  The  exultant  rebels  having  taken  possession  of  Wexford, 
drank  and  feasted  and  plundered,  but  beyond  this  there  was  little 
outrage,  with  one  notable  exception.  While  they  occupied  the 
town,  a  fellow  named  Dixon  with  a  rabble  of  men  from  outside  the 
town  broken  open  the  jail  and  brought  a  number  of  the  prisoners 
to  the  bridge,  and  after  a  mock  trial  began  to  kill  them  one  by 
one.  A  number,  variously  stated  from  forty  to  ninety,  had  been 
murdered,  and  another  batch  were  brought  out,  when,  according 
to  contemporary  accounts,  a  young  priest.  Father  Corrin,  return- 
ing from  some  parochial  duties,  and  seeing  how  things  stood, 
rushed  in  at  the  risk  of  his  life  and  commanded  the  executioners 
to  their  knees.  Down  they  knelt  instinctively,  when  in  a  loud 
voice  he  dictated  a  prayer  which  they  repeated  after  him — that 
God  might  show  to  them  the  same  mercy  that  they  were  about 
to  show  to  the  prisoners,  which  so  awed  and  terrified  them  that 
they  immediately  stopped  the  executions.  Dixon  probably  escaped 
arrest,  for  he  is  not  heard  of  again. 

A  Protestant  gentleman  named  Bagenal  Harvey,  who  had 
been  seized  by  government  on  suspicion  and  imprisoned  in  Wexford 
jail,  was  released  by  the  insurgent  peasantry  and  made  their  gen- 
eral. Besides  the  principal  encampment  on  Vinegar  Hill,  the  rebels 
had  two  others.  From  Carrigroe,  on  June  i,  a  large  body  of  them 
marched  on  Gorey,  but  they  were  routed  just  as  they  approached 
the  town  by  a  party  of  yeomen  under  Lieutenant  Elliott.  They 
fared  better,  however,  in  the  next  encounter,  for  General  Loftus 
with  1500  men  was  defeated  while  marching  to  attack  them,  and 
this  placed  Gorey  in  their  hands. 

From  Vinegar  Hill  they  marched  on  Newtownbarry  on  June 
2  and  took  the  town,  but  dispersing  to  drink  and  to  plunder,  they 
were  attacked  in  turn  by  the  soldiers  whom  they  had  driven  out, 
and  routed  with  a  loss  of  400.  The  same  thing,  but  on  a  much  larger 
scale,  happened  at  New  Ross  on  June  5.  The  rebels  marched  from 
Carrickbyrne,  and  attacking  the  town  with  great  bravery  in  the 
early  morning,  dro^'e  the  military  under  General  Johnson  from  the 
streets  out  over  the  bridge.     But  there  was  no  discipline;  they  fell 


212  IRELAND 

1798 

to  drink,  and  the  soldiers  returned  twice  and  were  twice  repulsed. 
But  still  the  drinking  went  on,  and  late  in  the  evening  the  military 
returned  once  more,  and  this  time  succeeded  in  expelling  the  rebels. 
The  fighting  had  continued  with  little  intermission  for  ten  hours, 
during  which  the  troops  lost  300  killed,  among  whom  was  Lord 
Mountjoy,  colonel  of  the  Dublin  militia,  better  known  in  this  book 
as  Luke  Gardiner,  while  the  loss  of  the  peasantry  was  two  or  three 
thousand.  Although  the  rebels  ultimately  lost  the  day  at  New 
Ross,  through  drink  and  disorder,  the  conspicuous  bravery  and 
determination  they  had  shown  caused  great  apprehension  among 
the  authorities  in  Dublin,  and  produced  a  feeling  of  grave  doubt 
as  to  the  ultimate  result  in  case  the  rebellion  should  spread. 

In  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  battle  of  New  Ross,  some 
fugitive  rebels  from  the  town  broke  into  Scullabogue  House  at  the 
foot  of  Carrickbyrne  Hill,  where  a  crowd  of  loyalist  prisoners, 
nearly  all  Protestants,  but  with  some  few  Catholics,  were  confined, 
and  pretending  they  had  orders  from  Harvey,  which  they  had  not, 
brought  forth  thirty-seven  of  the  prisoners  and  murdered  them. 
Then  setting  fire  to  a  bam  in  which  the  others  were  locked  up — 
between  one  and  two  hundred — they  burned  them  all  to  death. 
No  recognized  leader  was  present  at  this  barbarous  massacre:  it 
was  the  work  of  an  irresponsible  rabble. 

The  rebels  now  prepared  to  march  on  Dublin,  but  Major- 
General  Needham,  with  1600  men,  garrisoned  Arklow  on  the  coast, 
through  which  the  insurgent  army  would  have  to  pass.  On  June 
9  they  attacked  the  town  with  great  determination,  and  there 
was  a  desperate  fight,  in  which  the  cavalry  were  at  first  driven 
back,  so  that  Needham  would  have  retreated  but  for  the  bravery 
and  firmness  of  one  of  his  officers,  Colonel  Skerrett.  Late  in  the 
evening,  the  death  of  Father  Michael  Alurphy,  who  was  killed  by  a 
cannon  ball,  so  disheartened  his  men  that  they  gave  way  and  aban- 
doned the  march  to  Dublin. 

The  encampment  on  Vinegar  Hill  was  now  the  chief  rebel  sta- 
tion, and  General  Lake,  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  militarv;. 
organized  an  attack  on  it  with  20,000  men,  who  were  to  approach 
simultaneously  in  several  divisions  from  different  points.  All  the 
divisions  arrived  in  proper  time  on  the  morning  of  June  21,  except 
that  of  General  Needham,  which  for  some  reason  did  not  come  up 
till  the  fighting  was  all  over.  A  heavy  fire  of  grape  and  musketry 
did  great  execution   on   the   insurgent  army,  who  though   almost 


REBELLION     OF     1798  213 

17E8 

without  ammunition,  maintained  the  fight  for  an  hour  and  a  half, 
when  they  had  to  give  way.  The  space  intended  for  General  Need- 
ham's  division  lay  open  to  the  south,  and  through  this  opening — 
"  Needham's  Gap,"  as  they  called  it — they  escaped  wuth  compara- 
tively trifling  loss,  and  made  their  way  to  Wexford. 

This  was  the  last  considerable  action  of  the  Wexford  rebel- 
lion ;  in  face  of  the  overwhelming  odds  against  them  the  rebels  lost 
heart  and  there  was  very  little  more  fighting.  Wexford  was 
evacuated  and  was  at  once  occupied  by  General  Lake.  Many  of 
the  leaders  were  now  arrested,  tried  by  court-martial,  and  hanged, 
among  them  Bagenal  Harvey,  ]Mr.  Grogan  of  Johnstown,  Matthew 
Keogh,  and  Father  John  Murphy,  though  Lake  had  been  made 
aware  that  several  of  them  had  successfully  exerted  themselves  to 
prevent  outrage.  The  rebellion  here  was  practically  at  an  end ;  but 
the  whole  country  was  now  at  the  mercy  of  the  yeomanry  and  the 
militia,  who  perpetrated  many  atrocities  on  the  peasantry.  They 
made  hardly  any  distinction,  killing  everyone  they  met:  guilty  and 
innocent,  rebel  and  loyalist,  men  and  women,  all  alike  were  con- 
signed to  the  same  fate,  while  on  the  other  side,  straggling  bands 
of  rebels  traversed  the  country  free  of  all  restraint,  and  committed 
many  outrages  in  retaliation  for  those  of  the  yeomanry. 

By  some  misunderstanding  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  the 
north  was  delayed.  The  Antrim  insurgents  under  Henry  Joy 
McCracken  attacked  and  took  the  town  of  Antrim  on  June  7,  but 
the  military,  returning  with  reinforcements,  recovered  the  town 
after  a  stubborn  fight.  McCracken  was  taken  and  hanged  on  the 
17th  of  the  same  month.  In  Down  the  rebels,  under  Henry  Munro, 
captured  Saintfield,  and  encamped  in  Lord  Moira's  demesne  near 
Ballynahinch ;  but  on  June  14  they  were  attacked  by  Generals 
Nugent  and  Barber,  and  defeated  after  a  very  obstinate  fight- — com- 
monly known  as  the  battle  of  Ballynahinch.  Munro  escaped,  but 
was  soon  after  captured,  convicted  in  court-martial,  and  hanged  at 
his  own  door. 

Lord  CornwalHs,  a  humane  and  distinguished  man,  was  ap- 
pointed lord  lieutenant  on  June  14,  with  supreme  military  com- 
mand. He  endeavored  to  restore  quiet ;  and  his  first  step  was  an 
attempt  to  stop  the  dreadful  cruelties  now  committed  by  the  soldiers 
and  militia  all  over  the  country ;  but  in  spite  of  everything  he  could 
do  these  outrages  continued  for  several  months.  Had  he  been  in 
command  from  the  beginning,  instead  (.>f  the  harsli  and  injudicious 


214  IRELAND 

1798 

General  Lake,  it  is  probable  that  the  rebellion  would  have  been  sup- 
pressed with  not  a  tithe  of  the  bloodshed  on  either  side. 

After  the  rebellion  had  been  crushed  a  small  French  force  of 
about  a  thousand  men  under  General  Humbert  landed  at  Killala  in 
Mayo  on  August  22,  1798,  and  took  possession  of  the  town.  Two 
Irishmen  accompanied  Humbert,  Bartholomew  Teeling  and  Mat- 
thew Tone,  brother  of  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone.  But  as  there  was  no 
sign  of  popular  rising,  this  little  force,  having  first  defeated  the 
militia,  and  after  some  further  skirmishing  against  vastly  superior 
numbers,  surrendered  to  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  were  sent  back  to 
France,  all  except  Tone  and  Teeling,  who  were  tried  and  hanged. 
This  partial  expedition  was  followed  by  another  under  Admiral 
Bompart:  One  74-gun  ship  named  the  Hoche,  with  eight  frigates 
and  3000  men  under  General  Hardi,  among  whom  was  Theobald 
Wolfe  Tone,  sailed  from  Brest  on  September  22.  The  Hoche  and 
three  others  arrived  off  Lough  Swilly,  where  they  were  encoun- 
tered by  a  British  squadron  under  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren.  There 
was  a  terrible  fight  of  six  hours,  during  which  the  Hoche  sustained 
the  chief  force  of  the  attack  till  she  became  a  helpless  wreck  and 
had  to  surrender.  Tone  fought  with  desperation,  courting  but 
escaping  death.  After  the  surrender  he  was  recognized  and  sent  in 
irons  to  Dublin,  where  he  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  condemned 
to  be  hanged.  He  earnestly  begged  to  be  shot,  not  hanged,  on  the 
plea  that  he  was  a  French  officer;  but  his  petition  was  rejected.  On 
the  morning  fixed  for  the  execution  he  cut  his  throat  with  a  pen- 
knife. Meantime  Curran,  in  a  masterly  speech,  succeeded  on  legal 
grounds  in  staying  the  execution  for  further  argument,  but  Tone 
died  from  his  self-inflicted  wound  on  November  19,  1798.  In  the 
numerous  trials  during  and  after  the  rebellion  Curran  was  always 
engaged  on  the  side  of  the  prisoners,  and  though  he  did  not  often 
succeed  in  having  them  released,  his  brilliant  and  fearless  speeches 
were  wonderful  efforts  of  genius. 


Chapter    XL 

THE    UNION.     1 799-1803 

IN  the  opinion  of  the  EngHsh  prime  minister,  William  Pitt, 
the  course  of  events  for  the  last  few  years  in  Ireland  had 
rendered  the  time  opportune  for  his  long  cherished  project 
of  a  Legislative  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland:  that 
the  Irish  Parliament  should  be  abolished,  and  that  there  should  be 
only  one  Parliament  for  both  countries.  It  was  on  all  hands  ad- 
mitted that  this  could  not  be  accomplished  unless  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment willed  it ;  and  now  that  the  rebellion  was  all  over,  he  began  to 
make  carefully  planned  arrangements  to  secure  a  majority  in  favor 
of  the  Union :  for  he  well  knew  that  there  would  be  determined 
opposition  in  Ireland.  On  January  22,  1799,  the  Marquis  of  Corn- 
wallis  being  lord  lieutenant  and  Lord  Castlereagh  chief  secretary, 
the  project  of  the  Union  was,  by  Pitt's  direction,  indirectly  referred 
to  in  the  Irish  Parliament,  in  the  speech  from  the  throne;  but 
the  opposition  at  once  took  the  matter  up,  and  they  were  joined 
by  many  who  had  hitherto  been  supporters  of  the  government, 
among  others  John  Foster,  the  speaker ;  Sir  John  Parnell,  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer ;  Prime  Sergeant  Fitzgerald,  and  Sir  Jonah  Bar- 
rington :  all  fearing  the  loss  of  their  Parliament.  They  moved 
"  that  the  undoubted  birthright  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  a  resident 
and  independent  legislature,  should  be  maintained  " ;  and  after  an 
excited  debate  of  twenty-two  hours,  the  votes  were  equally  divided, 
which  was  considered  a  defeat  for  the  government.  Subsequently 
the  opposition  succeeded  in  having  the  clause  referring  to  the  Union 
altogether  struck  out  of  the  speech,  which  meant  that  they  refused 
even  to  consider  the  f[uestion.  Parnell  and  Fitzgerald  were  soon 
afterward  dismissed  from  their  offices.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  in 
these  divisions  nearly  all  those  who  voted  for  Union  were  office- 
holders or  pensioners  of  the  government ;  while  the  great  majority 
of  those  who  voted  against  it  were  persons  who  had  been  freely 
elected. 

In  February  the  scheme  was  brought  forward  in  the  English 

215 


<n6  IRELAND 

1799-1800 

Parliament  by  Pitt,  and  approved.  In  Ireland  elaborate  prepara- 
tions were  made  to  carry  it  in  the  next  session.  Persons  holding 
offices  who  showed  themselves  adverse  to  the  measure  were  dis- 
missed, or  brought  round  by  threats  of  dismissal.  The  Irish  Gov- 
ernment, as  we  have  seen,  had  been  all  along  corrupt ;  but  now — still 
under  outside  orders — it  went  far  beyond  anything  ever  experienced 
before.  Those  who  had  the  disposal  of  seats  were  in  great  alarm; 
for  if  the  Union  was  carried  the  300  members  would  have  to  be 
reduced  to  a  third,  so  that  about  200  constituencies  would  be  dis- 
franchised. The  opposition  of  these  proprietors  was  bought  off  by 
direct  money  payments;  about  15,000/.  was  paid  for  each  borough, 
and  several  proprietors  who  had  each  a  number  of  seats  at  their 
disposal  received  very  large  sums.  The  entire  amount  paid  for  the 
w4iole  of  the  "  rotten  "  or  "  pocket  "  boroughs  as  they  were  called, 
was  1,260,000/. 

To  purchase  the  votes  of  individual  members,  and  the  favor  of 
certain  influential  outsiders,  twenty-eight  persons  were  created 
peers,  and  thirty-two  of  those  already  peers  were  promoted;  and 
there  were  besides,  great  numbers  of  bribes  in  the  shape  of  pensions, 
judgeships,  baronetcies,  preferments,  government  situations,  and 
direct  cash.  All  this  was  done  with  scarcely  an  attempt  at  conceal- 
ment. The  chief  managers  of  the  whole  business  under  Pitt  were 
Lord  Cornwallis,  Lord  Castlereagh,  and  Lord  Clare  (John  Fitz- 
gibbon)  ;  but  Cornwallis,  though  quite  in  favor  of  the  measure,  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  abhorrence  at  being  forced  to  take  a  part  in  such 
transactions.  So  general  was  the  feeling  against  the  Union,  and  so 
deep  was  the  indignation  against  the  means  employed  to  bring  it 
about,  that  he  expressed  his  belief  that  half  the  majority  who  voted 
for  it  would  be  delighted  if  they  were  defeated :  yet  he  held  on  to 
his  post  till  the  measure  was  carried  through.  But  though  the 
majority  in  favor  of  Union  was  secured  by  gross  and  illegal  cor- 
ruption, it  must  not  be  imagined  that  all  who  voted  for  it  were  cor- 
rupt; for  there  were  some  who  honestly  believed  it  was  the  best 
course. 

The  feeling  against  it  extended  even  to  the  yeomanry,  the 
very  men  who  had  taken  such  a  prominent  part  in  putting  down  the 
rebellion;  and  it  was  feared  that  they  might  turn  out  to  resist  it 
with  arms  in  their  hands.  But  the  prime  movers  were  determined ; 
and  in  order  to  keep  peace  English  soldiers  were  sent  in  great  num- 
bers so  that  the  country  was  now  occupied  by  a  large  army.     The 


T  H  E     U  N  I O  N  217 

1800-1802 

session  opened  on  January  15,  the  last  meeting  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, Grattan,  knowing  what  was  coming,  had  himself  elected 
member  for  Wicklow;  and  though  very  ill,  he  rose  from  his  bed 
and  took  his  seat  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the  Volunteers.  Dublin 
was  in  a  state  of  fearful  excitement.  The  streets  were  filled  with 
dismayed  and  sorrow-stricken  crowds,  but  there  were  plenty  of 
cavalry  to  keep  them  within  bounds.  Lord  Castlereagh  brought 
forward  the  motion  in  the  Commons.  The  anti-Unionists  opposed 
the  project  most  determinedly;  Grattan,  worn  with  sickness,  pleaded 
with  all  his  old  fiery  eloquence.  Sir  John  Parnell  demanded  that 
there  should  be  a  dissolution,  and  that  a  new  Parliament  should  be 
called  to  determine  this  great  question,  so  that  the  opinion  of  the 
country  might  be  obtained,  as  is  usually  done  when  measures  of 
great  importance  are  proposed ;  but  the  Unionist  leaders  carried 
everything.  There  were  many  motions :  on  the  first  the  government 
had  158  against  115:  and  in  the  others  there  were  corresponding 
majorities ;  but  the  minority,  who  could  not  be  bought  over  by  bribes, 
stood  firm  and  struggled  vainly  to  the  last.  Despite  all  their  efforts 
the  bill  was  finally  carried  in  the  Commons.  It  was  next  passed  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  by  a  majority  of  nearly  three  to  one,  after  which 
the  royal  assent  .was  given  on  August  i,  and  the  act  came  into  force 
on  January  i,   1801. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Union  were  these :  the  two 
kingdoms  to  be  henceforward  one — "  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  " ;  the  Irish  representation  in  the  united  Par- 
liament to  be  one  hundred  members  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
thirty-two  peers  (of  whom  four  were  to  be  spiritual  peers,  i.  e., 
Protestant  bishops)  in  the  House  of  Lords;  the  twenty-eight  lay 
peers  to  be  elected  by  all  the  Irish  peers,  and  the  four  bishops  to  be 
selected  in  rotation ;  the  same  regulations  as  to  trade  and  commerce 
to  apply  to  all  subjects  of  the  United  Kingdom;  the  Irish  Estab- 
lished Church  to  be  continued  forever,  and  to  be  united  with  that  of 
England ;  Ireland  to  contribute  two-seventeenths  to  the  expenditure 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  for  twenty  years,  when  new  arrangements 
would  be  made;  each  of  the  two  countries  to  retain  its  own  na- 
tional debt  as  then  existing,  but  all  future  debts  contracted  to  be 
joint  debts. 

Three  years  after  the  Union  there  was  one  other  attempt  at 
insurrection,  which,  however,  was  confined  to  Dublin.  Several  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Um'ted  Irishmen  were  at  this  time  in  Paris,  and 


218  IRELAND 

1802-1803 

as  they  had  some  reason  to  expect  aid  from  Napoleon,  they  projected 
a  general  rising  in  Ireland.  One  of  their  body,  Robert  Emmet,  a 
gifted,  earnest,  noble-minded  young  man,  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
returned  to  Dublin  in  1802,  to  carry  out  the  arrangements,  and 
expended  his  whole  private  fortune  in  secretly  manufacturing  pikes 
and  other  arms. 

His  plan  was  to  attack  Dublin  Castle  and  the  Pigeon  House 
Fort ;  and  he  had  intended  that  the  insurrection  should  take  place  in 
August,  1803,  by  which  time  he  calculated  the  invasion  from  France 
would  come  off,  but  an  accidental  explosion  in  one  of  his  depots 
precipitated  matters.  News  came  in  that  the  military  were  ap- 
proaching; whereupon,  in  desperation,  he  sallied  from  his  depot  in 
Marshalsea  Lane,  into  Thomas  Street  and  toward  the  castle,  with 
about  100  men.  The  city  was  soon  in  an  uproar;  disorderly  crowds 
gathered  in  the  streets,  and  some  stragglers,  bent  on  mischief  and 
beyond  all  restraint,  began  outrages.  Meeting  the  chief  justice, 
Lord  Kilwarden,  a  good  man  and  a  humane  judge,  they  dragged 
him  from  his  coach  and  murdered  him.  When  news  of  this  outrage 
and  others  was  brought  to  Emmet,  he  was  filled  with  horror,  and 
attempted  in  vain  to  quell  the  mob.  Seeing  that  the  attempt  on  the 
castle  was  hopeless  he  fled  to  Rathfarnham,  and  might  have  escaped ; 
but  he  insisted  on  remaining  to  take  leave  of  Sarah  Curran,  daughter 
of  John  Philpot  Curran,  and  to  whom  he  was  secretly  engaged  to  be 
married.  He  was  arrested  by  Major  Sirr  on  August  25  at  a  house 
in  Harold's  Cross,  and  soon  after  was  tried  and  convicted,  making 
a  short  speech  of  great  power  in  the  dock.  On  the  next  day,  Sep- 
tember 20,  1803,  he  was  hanged  in  Thomas  Street. 


Chapter   XLI 

CATHOLIC    EMANCIPATION.     1803-1829 

IF  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  had  actively  opposed  the  Union,  in 
all  probability  it  could  not  have  been  carried ;  for  as  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  afterward  declared,  they  "  had  it  in  their  power  to  have 
frustrated  the  views  of  the  government  and  throw  the  country  into 
the  utmost  confusion,"  Accordingly  Pitt  had  at  first  intended  to 
include  Catholic  Emancipation  in  the  articles  of  Union,  an  intention 
afterward  unhappily  abandoned.  But  in  order  to  lessen  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Catholics,  they  were  led  to  believe,  by  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Irish  Government,  on  Pitt's  suggestion,  that  Emancipa- 
tion would  immediately  follow  the  Union.  Through  these  repre- 
sentations many  of  the  leading  Catholics,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical, 
were  induced  to  express  themselves  in  favor  of  the  measure,  and 
the  great  body  held  back  from  active  opposition.  Thus  the  Catho- 
lics were  kept  out  of  the  way  and  the  Union  was  carried.  And  now 
they  naturally  looked  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  but  they 
looked  in  vain,  for  the  government  showed  not  the  least  disposition 
to  move  in  the  matter.  It  is  known  that  on  the  appointment  of  Lord 
Cornwallis  as  lord  lieutenant,  the  king  had  written  to  Pitt  to  say 
that  he  would  not  consent  to  Emancipation,  as  he  considered  it 
would  be  a  breach  of  his  coronation  oath,  and  this  is  commonly  as- 
signed as  the  chief  reason  why  the  question  was  dropped.  There  is 
scarce  a  doubt,  however,  that  if  Pitt  had  been  earnest  in  the  matter 
he  could  have  brought  the  king  to  yield,  but  he  never  made  any  real 
effort.  For  twenty-nine  years  Emancipation  was  withheld ;  and 
when  it  came  at  last,  the  concession  was  brought  about,  as  we  shall 
see,  by  circumstances  quite  independent  of  representations  and 
promises. 

The  Catholics,  however,  never  abandoned  their  hope;  and  a 
small  section  of  them,  including  a  few  bishops,  agreed,  as  an  induce- 
ment for  the  government  to  grant  Emancipation,  that  the  Crown 
should  have  a  veto  in  the  appointment  of  bishops :  that  is  tO'  say, 
when  a  person  had  been  selected  by  the  Irish  ecclesiastical  authori- 

219 


220  IRELAND 

1808-1820 

ties,  his  name  should  be  submitted  to  the  king,  and  if  the  king  ob- 
jected another  was  to  be  chosen.  The  general  body  of  Catholics, 
clergy  and  people,  knew  nothing  of  all  this,  but  the  matter  was 
made  public  when,  in  1808,  a  petition  for  Catholic  Relief  was  pre- 
sented to  Parliament  by  G rattan  and  some  others,  who,  on  the 
authority  of  two  leading  Irish  Catholics,  openly  offered  to  accept 
the  veto  in  case  Emancipation  was  granted.  Whereupon  the  clergy 
and  people  generally  repudiated  it,  the  bishops  formally  condemned 
it,  and  besides  all  this,  the  government,  even  with  this  offer  before 
them,  refused  to  entertain  the  petition.  Nevertheless  the  veto  ques- 
tion continued  to  be  discussed  in  Ireland  for  some  years,  and  caused 
considerable  divergence  of  opinion  among  Catholics;  the  Irish  aris- 
tocracy were  generally  in  favor  of  it,  but  those  who  opposed  it,  led 
by  O'Connell,  ultimately  prevailed. 

Soon  after  the  Union,  Grattan,  the  greatest  and  noblest  of  all 
the  Protestant  advocates  of  Catholic  rights,  entered  the  imperial 
Parliament,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  pleading  for  Emanci- 
pation. Toward  the  end  of  18 19,  while  residing  at  Tinnehinch,  his 
health  rapidly  declined;  and  he  determined  to  make  one  last  effort 
for  his  Catholic  fellow-countrymen.  He  set  out  for  the  House  of 
Commons,  but  never  reached  it ;  and  he  died  in  London,  speaking  of 
Ireland  with  his  latest  breath. 

During  the  later  years  of  Grattan's  career  another  great  man 
was  beginning  to  come  to  the  front,  before  whose  genius  all  the 
obstacles  to  Catholic  Emancipation  ultimately  went  down.  Daniel 
O'Connell,  afterward  familiarly  called  "  The  Liberator,"  was  born 
at  Carhan,  beside  Cahersiveen,  in  Kerry,  on  August  6,  1775,  and 
was  educated  partly  in  Ireland  and  partly  in  France.  He  was 
called  to  the  bar  in  1798,  and  at  once  made  his  mark  as  a  successful 
advocate.  About  the  year  18 10  he  began  to  take  a  prominent  part 
in  public  questions,  and  before  long  became  the  acknowledged  leader 
of  the  Irish  Catholics.  Thenceforward,  till  the  time  of  his  death, 
he  was  the  chief  figure  in  Irish  political  history,  and  was  one  of  the 
greatest  popular  leaders  the  world  ever  saw. 

It  may  be  said  that  O'Connell  founded  the  system  of  peaceful, 
persevering,  popular  agitation  against  political  grievances — keeping 
strictly  within  the  law.  In  all  his  labors,  and  more  especially  during 
the  agitation  for  Emancipation,  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Richard 
Lalor  Sheil,  who  was  almost  as  great  an  orator  as  O'Connell  him- 
self. 


CATHOLIC     EMANCIPATION  ^21 

1820-1828 

The  old  Catholic  Committee  had  gradually  died  out  and 
O'Comiell  and  Sheil  founded  the  "  Catholic  Association,"  which  was 
the  principal  agency  that  ultimately  enabled  them  to  achieve  Eman- 
cipation. The  expenses  were  defrayed  chiefly  by  a  subscription 
from  the  people,  of  one  penny  a  week,  which  was  called  Catholic 
Rent :  and  the  association  soon  spread  through  all  Ireland.  This 
^movement,  of  which  O'Connell  and  Sheil  were  the  mainsprings  all 
through,  was  the  means  of  spreading  broadcast  a  free  press  and  of 
creating  healthful  public  opinion.  The  government  viewed  the 
new  Association  with  jealousy  and  alarm,  and  an  act  of  Parliament 
was  passed  in  1825  to  put  it  down;  but  O'Connell,  who  took  great 
care  never  to  have  the  law  broken,  contrived  an  ingenious  plan  by 
which  the  act  was  evaded,  and  the  association  went  on  as  before.  In 
Waterford  and  several  other  places,  by  means  of  the  perfect  organ- 
ization of  this  association,  Protestant  members  favorable  to  Eman- 
cipation were  returned,  the  forty-shilling  free-holders  voting  for 
them;  for  as  these  tenants  had  leases  for  life  they  were  in  a  great 
measure  independent  of  the  landlords,  and  successfully  resisted  their 
influence. 

An  oath  similar  to  that  framed  in  1692  to  exclude  Irish  Catho- 
lics from  Parliament  was  at  this  period,  and  had  been  for  a  long 
time  previousl}'.  in  force  in  the  Parliament  in  England,  so  that 
although  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  a  Catholic  being  elected,  he 
could  not  enter  the  House  as  member,  since  no  Catholic  could  take 
this  oath.  It  had  been  recommended  by  the  veteran  John  Keogh 
that  some  Catholic  should  be  elected  member,  and  should  present 
himself  at  Westminster  and  be  excluded  by  the  oath,  so  that  the 
absurdity  and  hardship  of  letting  a  constituency  remain  altogether 
without  a  member  because  the  person  elected  refused  to  take  an 
oath  that  his  own  religion  was  false,  sliould  be  l)rought  home  to  the 
people  of  the  empire.  Keogh  believed  that  this  would  lead  to 
Emancipation.  A  vacancy  now  (1828)  occurred  in  Clare,  as  the 
sitting  member,  ]\Ir.  Vesey  Fitzgerald,  having  accepted  the  office 
of  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  had  to  seek  reelection.  O'Con- 
nell determined  to  oppose  him,  so  as  to  bring  tlie  matter  to  a  test. 
His  address  to  the  people  of  Clare  aroused  extraordinary  enthusi- 
asm, and  notwithstanding  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  landlords,  he 
was  returned  by  an  immense  majority. 

This  election  aroused  sympathy  everywhere  in  England  for  tlie 
Catholics,  so  that  the  government  were  alarmed,  and  they  became 


222  IRELAND 

1828-1829 

still  more  so  when  they  found  that  the  branches  of  the  association 
were  preparing  to  return  Catholic  members  all  through  Ireland. 
Wellington  and  Peel,  forced  by  public  opinion,  gave  way,  being  now 
convinced  that  Emancipation  could  no  longer  be  withheld  with 
safety.  Peel  introduced  into  the  Commons  a  bill  for  the  Emancipa- 
tion of  the  Catholics.  After  several  days'  stormy  debate  the  third 
reading  was  carried  on  March  30.  The  debate  in  the  Lords  was 
even  more  violent  than  in  the  Commons.  But  Wellington  ended  the 
matter  by  declaring  that  they  should  choose  either  of  the  two  alter- 
natives, Emancipation  or  civil  war.  The  bill  passed  the  third  read- 
ing, after  a  long  debate  and  much  bitter  opposition,  and  received 
the  royal  assent  on  April  13,  1829. 

After  the  bill  had  become  law,  O'Connell  presented  himself  at 
the  bar  of  the  House  for  the  first  time  since  his  election  to  claim  his 
seat,  knowing  well  what  would  happen.  According  to  the  terms 
of  the  Emancipation  Act  it  was  only  those  elected  for  April  13 
that  came  under  the  new  oath :  a  clause  designedly  inserted  by  Peel 
in  order  to  put  O'Connell  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  another 
election.  The  old  oath  was  put  into  his  hand;  and  looking  at  it 
for  a  few  seconds  he  said :  "  I  see  here  one  assertion  as  to  a  matter 
of  fact  which  I  know  to  be  untrue;  I  see  a  second  as  to  a  matter  of 
opinion  which  I  believe  to  be  untrue.  I  therefore  refuse  to  take  this 
oath  " :  after  which  he  withdrew.  Another  writ  was  issued  for 
Clare,  and  he  was  returned  unopposed. 

By  this  Emancipation  Act  a  new  oath  was  framed  which  Cath- 
olics might  take.  The  act  therefore  admitted  Catholics  to  the 
right  of  being  members  of  Parliament  in  either  House.  It  admitted 
them  also  to  all  civil  and  military  offices,  with  three  exceptions: 
those  of  regent,  lord  lieutenant,  and  lord  chancellor. 

The  act  contained  one  fatal  provision  which  O'Connell  had  to 
submit  to;  it  raised  the  franchise  in  Ireland  to  10/.,  though  in  Eng- 
land the  qualification  remained  at  the  limit  of  forty  shillings:  this 
disfranchised  all  the  forty-shilling  freehold  voters,  who  constituted 
the  main  strength  of  the  Catholic  party. 

Several  influences  had  been  for  years  at  work  to  soften  the 
feelings  of  England  toward  Irish  Roman  Catholics,  so  as  to 
prepare  the  way  for  Emancipation ;  among  the  chief  of  which  were 
the  writings  of  Thomas  Moore.  Though  Grattan's  impassioned 
pleading  had  brought  the  claims  of  his  country  vividly  before  the 
English  House  of  Commons,  Moore's  "  Irish  Melodies  " — beautiful 


Af;,-r    :lu-    f':-:''"^ 


CATHOLIC     EMANCIPATION 

1829 

words  to  beautiful  music — were,  it  may  be  said,  the  first  clear  gentle 
voice  heard  across  the  sea  directly  from  the  Irish  Catholics  them- 
selves. These  songs  were  read  and  sung  with  delight  all  over  Eng- 
land, and  they  sank  deeply  into  the  hearts  of  the  English  people. 
But  there  still  remained,  especially  among  the  ruling  classes,  much 
hostility,  and  a  widespread  determination  to  resist  further  conces- 
sion. To  O'Connell  is  due  the  credit  of  breaking  down  the  opposi- 
tion of  Parliament,  and  of  carrying  Emancipation,  but  he  was 
faithfully  and  ably  seconded  by  Richard  Lalor  Shell. 


Chapter   XLII 

AFTERMATH   OF  EMANCIPATION.     1829-1847 

A  FTER  Emancipation  the  way  was  opened  to  other  reforms 
/  \  beneficial  to  the  Catholics.  For  many  years  previous  to 
X  .^  this  the  government  had  been  giving-  money  to  support 
schools  for  elementary  education  all  through  Ireland.  But  they 
were  suitable  for  Protestants  only;  Catholics  could  not  conscien- 
tiously attend  them,  as  they  would  have  to  be  present  at  Protestant 
religious  instruction,  while  no  provision  was  made  to  give  them 
instruction  in  their  own  religion.  To  remedy  this  state  of  things 
the  national  system  of  education  was  established,  which  afforded 
means  of  education  to  all.  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike.  For 
this  purpose  it  had — as  it  has  still — two  main  rules:  first,  pupils  of 
all  religious  denominations,  who  attended  a  school,  were  to  be  taught 
together  in  the  ordinary  school  course,  but  to  receive  religious 
instruction  separately;  second,  there  was  to  be  no  interference  with 
the  religious  principles  of  any  child.  From  that  time  to  the  present 
both  the  number  of  schools  and  the  money  given  by  the  government 
to  support  them  have  gone  on  increasing. 

The  Catholic  peasantry  were  still  called  on  to  pay  tithes,  and 
they  continued  to  be  harassed  by  the  exactions  of  tithe-proctors  and 
others,  who,  if  the  money  was  not  forthcoming,  seized  the  poor 
people's  cows,  furniture,  beds,  blankets,  kettles,  or  anything  else 
they  could  lay  hands  on. 

At  last,  about  1830,  there  arose  a  general  movement  against 
the  payment  of  tithes;  the  people  resisted  all  through  the  south  of 
Ireland,  and  for  many  years  there  was  a  Tithe  War.  The  mili- 
tary and  police  were  constantly  called  out  to  support  the  collectors 
in  making  their  seizures,  and  almost  daily  there  were  conflicts,  often 
with  great  loss  of  life.  At  Newtownbarry  in  Wexford,  in  1831. 
thirteen  peasants  were  killed  by  the  yeomanry  and  police;  in  1832 
eleven  policemen  and  several  peasants  were  killed  in  a  tithe  conflict 
at  Carrickshock  near  Knocktopher  in  Kilkenny,  and  many  other  such 
fatal  encounters  took  place.    There  was  determined  resistance  every- 

224 


AFTERMATH     OF     EMANCIPATION       225 

1830-1843 

where,  and  the  cost  of  collection  was  far  greater  than  the  amount 
collected.  Hundreds  of  Protestant  clergyman  received  little  or 
nothing  and  were  reduced  to  poverty;  and  to  relieve  these  tempor- 
arily, the  government  advanced  a  large  sum  on  loan.  All  this  time 
O'Connell,  seconded  by  Shell,  struggled  vainly  both  in  and  out  of 
Parliament  for  the  total  abolition  of  tithes,  or  for  some  arrangement 
that  would  shift  the  burden  from  the  shoulders  of  the  tenants.  The 
people  continued  to  resist,  and  the  Tithe  War  went  on,  though  an 
attempt  was  made  to  stop  it  by  the  Coercion  i\ct.  Some  years  later 
(in  1838),  the  tithes,  reduced  by  one-fourth  to  pay  the  cost  of  col- 
lection, were  put  on  the  landlords,  which  in  a  great  measure  put  an 
end  to  the  Tithe  War — an  arrangement  that  would  have  saved  end- 
less trouble  and  much  bloodshed  if  it  had  been  adopted  earlier. 

In  1838  the  Rev.  Theobald  ]\Iathew,  a  young  priest  belonging 
to  the  order  of  Capuchin  Friars,  joined  a  temperance  society  that 
had  been  started  in  Cork  by  some  Protestant  gentlemen,  chiefly 
Quakers.  He  took  the  total  abstinence  pledge,  and  soon  became 
the  leading  spirit  in  the  society.  From  that  time  forth  he  devoted 
himself  almost  exclusively  to  the  cause  of  temperance,  going  all 
through  Ireland,  preaching  to  immense  congregations,  and  adminis- 
tering the  total  abstinence  pledge  to  vast  numbers  of  people  of  all 
religious  denominations.  A  wonderful  change  soon  came  over  the 
country,  for  drunkenness  with  its  attendant  evils  and  miseries  almost 
disappeared.  The  good  effects  were  long  felt,  and  are  to  some 
extent  felt  still.  For  though  the  evil  of  drink  has  in  a  great  measure 
returned,  it  is  not  nearly  so  general  as  formerly ;  and  drunkenness, 
which  before  Father  ]\Iathew"s  time  was  generally  looked  upon 
with  a  certain  degree  of  indulgence,  and  by  some  was  considered 
a  thing  to  boast  of,  is  now  universally  regarded  as  discreditable. 

O'Connell  and  other  Irish  leaders  had  all  along  hoped  to  have 
the  Act  of  Union  repealed,  that  is,  to  get  back  for  Ireland  Grattan's 
Parliament,  with  all  its  independence  and  all  its  privileges.  But 
the  struggle  for  Emancipation  absorbed  so  much  of  their  energies 
that  for  about  thirty  years  after  the  Repeal  agitati(^n  was  started  in 
1810,  it  was  carried  on  only  in  a  faint  sort  of  way.  In  1840  it 
was  vigorously  renewed,  when  O'Connell  founded  the  Repeal  Asso- 
ciation; and  in  1843  he  began  to  hold  great  public  meetings  in  favor 
of  Repeal,  at  which  vast  numbers  of  the  people  attended,  eager  to 
support  the  movement  and  to  hear  his  magnificent  addresses.  At 
one  meeting  held  on  the  Hill  of  Tara,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Irisi: 


226  IRELAND 

1845-1847 

kings,  it  was  computed  that  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  people  were 
present.  About  thirty  of  these  meetings — "  Monster  Meetings," 
as  they  came  to  be  called — were  held  during  1843.  At  last  the  gov- 
ernment took  action,  and  "  proclaimed,"  i.  e.,  forbade,  the  meeting 
that  was  arranged  to  be  held  at  Clontarf  on  October  8.  After 
this  O'Connell  and  several  others  were  arrested,  tried,  and  con- 
victed. But  when  they  had  spent  three  months  in  prison  they  had 
to  be  released  in  September,  1843,  because  the  House  of  Lords, 
before  whom  O'Connell  brought  the  case,  decided  that  the  trial  was 
not  a  fair  one,  inasmuch  as  the  government  had  selected  a  one-sided 
jury.     It  may  be  said  that  this  ended  the  agitation  for  Repeal. 

In  those  days  almost  the  whole  population  of  Ireland  subsisted 
on  the  potato.  But  in  1845  and  1846  the  potato  crop  failed,  and 
there  was  a  great  famine,  the  most  calamitous  the  country  had  ever 
experienced.  In  1846  and  1847  the  people  died  by  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  starvation  and  fever.  The  preventive  measures  taken 
by  the  government,  in  the  shape  of  public  works,  were  quite  inade- 
quate; but  the  English  people  individually  made  noble  efforts  to 
save  the  starving  peasantry,  and  money  in  enormous  amounts  came 
pouring  in.  One  sad  feature  of  this  great  national  catastrophe  was 
that  in  each  of  those  two  years  Ireland  produced  quite  enough  of 
corn  to  feed  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  but  day  after  day  it 
was  exported  in  shiploads,  while  the  peasantry  were  dying  of  hun- 
ger. So  tremendous  a  calamity  had  probably  never  been  experi- 
enced by  any  other  country  of  Europe. 

After  O'Connell's  trial  and  conviction,  a  number  of  the  younger 
men  among  his  followers,  losing  faith  in  his  method  of  peaceful  and 
constitutional  agitation,  separated  from  him  and  formed  what  is 
called  the  "  Young  Ireland  Party."  They  were  educated  men  of 
the  highest  character,  and  many  of  them  of  great  literary  ability. 
O'Connell's  various  organizations  from  the  very  beginning  of  his 
career  had  been  almost  exclusively  Catholic,  but  the  Young  Ireland 
Party  included  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  one  of  their  aims  was 
to  unite  the  whole  people  of  Ireland  of  all  religious  denominations 
in  one  great  organization. 

The  Nation  newspaper  had  been  founded  in  1842  by  Charles 
Gavan  Duffy,  John  Blake  Dillon,  and  Thomas  Davis ;  the  first  two 
Catholics,  the  third  a  Protestant,  and  they  now  used  it  to  give 
expression  to  their  views.  It  was  very  ably  conducted,  its  pages 
abounding  in  brilliant  writing,  botli  prose  and  poetry,  of  which  a 


DAXIKI.    (I  ("(IXXKI.L 

(r.di-ii    1775.     Dii-.i   1S.17) 

I'aiiiliiii;    by    KicluirJ    ILylr 
Wilinn,!!    Cillri-v.    Diihlhi 


AFTERMATH     OF     EMANCIPATION       227 

1847 

large  part  has  become  permanently  embodied  in  Irish  national  liter- 
ature. The  writers  were  much  less  guarded  than  O'Connell ;  their 
articles  tended  toward  revolutionary  doctrines,  and  they  soon  came 
in  conflict  with  the  law.  Other  papers  with  similar  principles  and 
objects  were  founded,  with  writers  who  were  still  more  outspoken. 
Of  these  latter  the  most  conspicuous  for  his  brilliantly  written  and 
violent  articles,  was  John  Mitchell,  an  Ulster  Unitarian,  who  openly 
advocated  rebellion  and  total  separation  from  England. 

During  all  this  time  of  disruption  and  trouble  the  whole  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  and  the  great  body  of  the  people,  forming  collectively 
the  "  Old  Ireland  Party,"  stood  by  O'Connell.  The  secession  of 
the  Young  Irelanders  was  a  cause  of  great  grief  to  him,  and  he 
denounced  them  with  unsparing  bitterness,  for  he  foresaw  what  they 
would  bring  trouble  on  themselves  and  on  the  country — which 
indeed  soon  came  to  pass  after  his  death.  Yet  in  many  ways  this 
brilliant  band  of  young  men  exercised  great  influence  for  good, 
which  remained  after  the  trouble  and  trials  were  all  past  and  gone, 
and  which  remains  to  this  day.  They  infused  new  life  and  energy 
into  Irish  national  literature,  spread  among  the  people  a  knowledge 
of  Irish  history,  Irish  music,  and  Irish  lore  of  all  kinds,  and  taught 
them  to  admire  what  was  good  and  noble  among  past  generations 
of  Irishmen  of  every  creed  and  party. 

In  1846,  O'Connell,  worn  out  by  labor  and  anxiety,  began 
to  decline  in  health,  and  he  suffered  intense  anguish  of  mind  at 
witnessing  the  calamities  of  the  people  he  loved  so  well — for 
the  famine  was  at  this  time  making  fearful  havoc  among  them. 
In  the  following  year  his  physicians,  hoping  that  change  of  air  and 
scene  might  benefit  or  restore  him,  advised  him  to  go  to  the  Con- 
tinent. He  set  out  on  a  journey  to  Rome,  partly  devotional  and 
partly  for  health ;  but  his  strength  failed  on  the  way,  and  he  died 
at  Genoa  on  May  15,  1847,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  In  accord- 
ance with  his  latest  wish  his  heart  was  carried  to  Rome  and  his 
body  was  brought  back  to  Ireland  and  buried  in  Crlasncvin,  where 
a  stately  pillar-tower,  after  the  model  of  the  round  towers  of  old, 
now  marks  his  resting  place. 


Chapter   XLIII 

THE   YOUNG    IRELAND    MOVEMENT 
By  Justin  McCarthy 

ANEW  life  was  growing  up  in  Ireland  at  this  time — a  life  of 
literature  and  patriotic  movement.  Ireland  had  had  no 
literature  peculiarly  her  own  since  the  native  language  had 
ceased  to  be  the  tongue  of  the  majority  among  her  people.  There 
had  been  Irish  literary  men  at  all  times,  but  they  wrote  in  English 
and  in  the  mode  of  that  English  literature  to  which  they  belonged. 
O'Connell's  movement  brought  for  the  first  time  a  genuine  Irish 
literature,  inspired  by  the  feelings,  the  traditions,  and  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  the  country,  although  written  in  English. 

The  Nation  newspaper  was  started  in  October,  1842.  Its 
founders  were  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  John  Blake  Dillon,  and  Thomas 
Davis.  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  who  died  in  1903,  took  a  leading  part 
in  Irish  political  movements,  and  was  tried  more  than  once  on  a 
charge  of  sedition,  though  in  each  case  the  trial  ended  in  a  disagree- 
ment of  the  jury.  He  sat  in  the  House  of  Commons  for  a  short 
time.  He  emigrated  to  Australia,  entered  the  Parliament  of  Vic- 
toria, and  held  high  office  there,  becoming  Prime  Minister  in  one 
administration,  and  afterward  Speaker  of  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly. In  his  later  years  he  returned  to  Europe,  where  he  lived  for 
the  most  part  on  the  Riviera,  but  he  several  times  revisited  England 
and  his  native  country. 

John  Blake  Dillon  was  a  barrister  of  large  practice  in  Dublin. 
After  the  break  up  of  the  political  movement  with  which  he  was 
connected  he  found  a  refuge  in  the  United  States,  where  he  followed 
the  profession  of  the  law  with  great  success.  In  later  years  he 
returned  to  Ireland,  became  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  won  a  distinct  reputation  there.  He  died  in  his  native  country. 
The  career  of  Thomas  Davis  was  very  short.  He  died  when  he 
had  only  passed  his  twenty-ninth  year,  but  he  left  a  name  which  will 
ahvays  be  remembered  in  his  own  country  and  wherever  ballad 
poetr}-  is  appreciated.     The  three  men  were  all  very  young  when 

228 


YOUNG     IRELAND     MOVEMENT  229 

1847 

they  founded  The  Nation,  and  they  all  had  high  literary  gifts,  which 
won  the  admiration  even  of  their  political  enemies.  The  Nation 
was  the  expression  in  prose  and  verse  of  the  country's  yearnings  for 
political  emancipation,  and  for  the  revival  of  a  native  literature. 
It  found  readers  in  every  home  where  Irishmen  had  national  senti- 
ments. The  paper  was  for  a  long  time  thoroughly  constitutional  in 
its  tone,  but  those  who  managed  it  and  supported  it  soon  chafed 
against  O'Connell's  creed,  that  no  political  cause  would  justify  blood- 
shed. A  number  of  young  men  began  to  rise  into  eminence  who 
refused  to  accept  this  doctrine,  and  the  effect  of  their  writings  and 
speeches  was  to  damage  severely  the  influence  of  O'Connell  over 
the  people  of  Ireland. 

O'Connell's  power  probably  reached  its  zenith  when  he  was 
put  upon  his  trial  in  1843,  along  with  Duffy  and  other  leading  Irish- 
men, on  a  charge  of  conspiracy  and  sedition.  The  charge  was 
mainly  founded  on  public  speeches  made  by  O'Connell  and  others. 
In  February,  1844,  after  a  long  legal  process,  he  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  fine  and  imprisonment.  The  manner,  however,  in 
which  the  Crown  prosecutors  of  Dublin  had  arranged  for  a  jury 
certain  to  convict  the  accused,  the  process  familiarly  known  as  "  jury 
packing,"  was  made  the  occasion  of  an  appeal  which  came  before 
the  House  of  Lords  in  the  following  September,  and  the  judgment 
of  the  Criminal  Court  was  reversed  by  a  majority  of  the  Law  Lords. 
On  this  occasion  Lord  Denman  declared  that  the  course  taken  by 
the  Crown  prosecutors  in  forming  the  jury  w'as  one  calculated  to 
make  the  criminal  law  of  the  country  "  a  mockery,  a  delusion,  and 
a  snare." 

After  this  great  triumph  for  O'Connell  the  remainder  of  the 
"  Liberator's  "  career  is  but  a  story  of  physical  decay  and  of  death. 
The  Young  Ireland  party  had  broken  away  from  his  dominion  and 
set  up  an  agitation  of  their  own.  Two  men  had  risen  among  them 
of  quite  remarkable  powders.  One  of  these  was  John  Mitchell,  and 
the  other  was  Thomas  Francis  Meagher.  Mitchell  was  an  uncom- 
promising Nationalist,  who  went  in  not  merely  tor  constitutional 
agitation,  but  for  Ireland's  independence,  her  complete  severance 
from  the  British  Empire.  Meagher  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
orators  Ireland  had  ever  produced.  Irishmen  have  often  had  great 
orators  among  them,  but  Meagher  was  counted  among  the  most 
gifted  of  his  race  even  in  the  days  of  O'Connell  and  Sheil.  His 
style  of  oratory  was  fervid,  glowing,  passionate,  rich  witli  dazzling 


230  IRELAND 

imagery  and  poetic  allusions  drawn  from  many  literatures.  Crit- 
icism might  find  fault  with  its  style,  but  there  was  no  question  of 
its  influence  upon  the  listeners. 

Another  leader  of  the  Young  Ireland  party  was  William  Smith 
O'Brien,  whose  family  claimed  direct  descent  from  one  of  the  Irish 
kings,  and  had  for  its  head  a  marquis  in  the  British  peerage.  Duffy 
and  Dillon  for  a  time  kept  The  Nation  to  its  position  as  the  organ  of 
constitutional  agitation,  on  the  ground  that  there  appeared  no  chance 
for  any  other  kind  of  agitation;  but  they  would  not  submit  them- 
selves or  their  journal  to  the  pacific  pledges  O'Connell  endeavored 
to  exact.  In  1846  there  was  an  almost  total  failure  of  the  potato 
crop  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Ireland,  and  the  result  was  a 
famine,  especially  in  the  south  and  west,  in  the  winter  of  that  year 
and  many  months  of  the  next.  The  whole  civilized  world  was 
roused  to  pity  and  s)nnpathy,  and  from  the  farthest  regions  of  the 
earth  the  help  of  the  charitable  came  in.  That  help  was  sadly 
wanted,  for  the  measures  taken  by  the  government  at  home  in  the 
first  instance  proved  pitiably  inadequate.  Red  tape  was  allowed  to 
interfere  with  promptitude  in  official  action,  and  the  peasantry  were 
dying  by  hundreds  while  the  authorities  were  considering  how  the 
distribution  of  relief  could  best  be  reconciled  with  the  rules  of 
political  economy. 

One  great,  although  indirect,  result  of  the  Irish  famine  was  the 
triumph  of  the  principle  of  Free  Trade  in  British  financial  policy. 
But  this  was  yet  to  come;  and  meanwhile  the  famine  was  doing  its 
grim  work  in  Ireland.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  starving  in 
towns  and  villages  and  on  hillsides,  and  the  bewildered  parochial 
authorities  were  not  able  to  provide  coffins  enough  for  the  burial  of 
hunger's  victims.  O'Connell's  health  utterly  broke  down  under  this 
new  national  calamity.  His  last  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons 
was  delivered  on  February  8,  1847.  It  was  an  appeal  to  Parlia- 
ment and  the  government  to  deal  promptly  and  liberally  with  Ire- 
land's need.  He  spoke  in  weak,  broken,  and  sometimes  almost 
inaudible  tones,  contrasting  strangely  with  the  well-remembered 
thrill  of  that  voice  which  had  so  often  held  the  House  spellbound. 
O'Connell's  physicians  ordered  him  to  seek  rest  in  some  warmer 
climate,  and  he  set  out  for  Rome,  where  it  was  believed  that  he 
wished  his  life  should  end.  He  did  not  reach  his  goal,  for  he  broke 
down  completely  at  Genoa,  and  died  there  on  May  15,  1847. 
O'Connell,  dying,  bequeathed  his  heart  to  Rome,  and  it  rests  there 


YOUNG     IRELAND     MOVEMENT  231 

in  the  Church  of  St.  Agatha.  His  body  was  removed  to  Dublin 
and  lies  in  Glasnevin  Cemetery.  Even  those  who  are  disposed  to 
criticise  him  most  severely  will  not  deny  that  Daniel  O'Connell's 
resting-place  in  Glasnevin  is  the  grave  of  a  great  man  who  truly 
loved  his  country. 

The  Irish  national  movement  soon  broke  its  constitutional 
bounds.  John  Mitchell  gave  up  his  connection  with  The  Nation 
and  started  a  weekly  journal  of  his  own,  The  United  Irishman,  in 
which  he  advocated  a  movement  for  the  absolute  independence  of 
Ireland.  The  Revolution  which  overthrew  Louis  Philippe  broke 
out,  and  France  became,  for  the  second  time,  a  Republic.  Several 
of  the  Young  Irelanders  undertook  a  mission  to  France  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  from  the  Republican  Government  help  in  Ireland's 
effort  for  independence.  John  Mitchell  was  put  on  his  trial  in  Dub- 
lin because  of  articles  which  had  appeared  in  his  paper.  He  was 
charged  with  treason-felony,  a  new  offense  created  by  special  legis- 
lation. Up  to  that  time  spoken  or  written  sedition,  when  no  act 
of  rebellion  or  attack  on  the  life  of  the  sovereign  had  been  com- 
mitted, could  only  be  visited  with  a  comparatively  light  punishment ; 
but  the  new  statute  made  such  sedition  felonious  and  liable  to  very 
severe  penalties.  Mitchell  was  found  guilty,  and  made  no  attempt 
whatever  to  evade  the  action  of  the  law.  He  was  defended  by 
Robert  Holmes,  a  great  Irish  advocate,  brother-in-law  of  Robert 
Emmet,  whose  speech  on  behalf  of  his  client  proclaimed  his  full 
sympathy  with  the  sentiments  for  which  Mitchell  stood  on  his  trial. 
After  the  verdict  of  guilty  had  been  pronounced  Mitchell  made  a 
short  speech  from  the  dock,  declaring  his  absolute  adhesion  to  the 
principles  for  which  he  was  arraigned.  He  was  sentenced  to  trans- 
portation for  fourteen  years,  and  was  carried  off  at  once  to  Ber- 
muda and  afterward  to  Australia. 

In  the  summer  of  1848  the  rebellion  broke  out  under  the  leader- 
ship of  William  Smith  O'Brien,  and  proved  a  complete  failure.  No 
other  result  could  reasonably  have  been  expected.  ]\Iany  of  the 
Young  Irelanders  were  totally  opposed  to  so  precipitate  an  attempt, 
but  Smith  O'Brien  was  determined  to  go  on,  and  those  who  had 
worked  with  him  were  unwilling  to  hold  back.  No  systematic  pro- 
vision had  been  made  of  weapons  or  stores,  and  even  in  that  part 
of  the  country  where  the  rising  took  place  the  majority  of  the  people 
did  not  know  that  their  leaders  had  come  to  Dublin  to  open  a  cam- 
paign of  rebellion.     The  whole  struggle  began  and  ended  in  an 


^222  IRELAND 

encounter  with  the  police  at  Ballingarry,  County  Tipperary,  and 
not  even  a  regiment  of  soldiers  had  to  be  called  into  action.  Smith 
O'Brien,  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  and  others  were  arrested  almost 
immediately.  John  Blake  Dillon  escaped  first  to  France  and  then 
to  America,  He  had  entirely  opposed  the  premature  and  unpre- 
pared attempt,  but  as  his  leader  would  go  on  Dillon  stood  beside  him 
at  Ballingarry,  where  his  tall  form  might  have  seemed  to  invite  a 
policeman's  bullet.  A  special  commission  was  held  during  the 
autumn  in  the  assize  town  of  Clonmel,  Tipperary,  where  Smith 
O'Brien,  Meagher,  and  two  of  their  fellow-prisoners  were  charged 
with  high  treason.  They  were  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to 
death  with  all  the  accompanying  horrors  then  legal.  The  sentence 
was  commuted  to  one  of  transportation  for  life.  The  prisoners 
were  sent  to  the  convict  settlements  in  Australia.  In  1852  Meagher 
escaped  from  the  colony  and  went  to  the  United  States,  where  he 
fought  bravely  for  the  North  during  the  great  Civil  War.  He  lost 
his  life  by  accident:  he  fell  off  a  steamer  in  the  Missouri  and  was 
drowned  in  July,  1867.  in  his  forty-fourth  year. 

Smith  O'Brien  was  conditionally  released  in  February,  1854, 
the  stipulation  being  that  he  must  not  return  to  any  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  In  1856  he  received  a  free  pardon,  and  was 
allowed  to  go  back  to  his  native  country.  In  1864  he  died  at  Ban- 
gor, North  Wales,  and  his  remains  were  removed  to  a  churchyard 
in  the  county  of  Limerick,  where  his  tomb  may  now  be  seen.  John 
^Mitchell  settled  in  the  United  States,  and  conducted  a  paper  in 
Richmond  during  the  Civil  War.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  advocate 
of  the  South,  and,  to  the  great  regret  of  most  of  his  admirers,  he 
proclaimed  himself  a  supporter  of  slavery.  After  the  Civil  War 
he  lived  in  New  York,  and  there  published  a  newspaper  called  The 
Irish  Citizen.  In  January,  1875,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Ireland,  and  was 
received  with  much  enthusiasm.  A  vacancy  shortly  afterward 
occurred  in  the  Parliamentary  representation  of  the  county  of  Tip- 
perary, and  Mitchell,  in  his  absence — he  had  gone  back  to  America 
— was  elected  without  opposition.  He  returned  to  Ireland  imme- 
diately, but  was  in  such  declining  health  that  when  he  attended  a 
meeting  in  Cork  liis  speech  had  to  be  read  for  him  by  John  Dillon, 
then  a  very  young  man.  son  of  his  old  political  associate,  John  Blake 
Dillon,  and  now  a  leading  member  of  the  Irish  party  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  An  objection  was  raised  to  Mitchell  taking  his  seat 
nil  tl'c  ground  that  he  was  a  convicted  felon  who  had  not  worked 


YOUNG     IRELAND     MOVEMENT  233 

out  his  sentence.  A  long-  debate  took  place,  the  result  being  that  a 
large  majority  of  votes  declared  the  election  void,  and  ordered  the 
issue  of  a  new  writ.  A  second  election  took  place,  and  Mitchell  was 
reelected  by  a  majority  of  three  to  one  over  a  Conservative. 
Mitchell  died  a  few  days  after  the  election,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine. 
He  was  not  a  practical  politician,  and  he  held  some  opinions  which 
many  of  his  warmest  admirers  could  not  accept;  but  there  can  be 
no  question  of  his  sincerity,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  powerful 
and  brilliant  prose  writers  of  his  time.  The  essence  of  politics, 
according  to  Macaulay,  is  compromise,  and  compromise  was  a  qual- 
ity which  never  belonged  to  Mitchell's  nature. 

After  the  failure  of  the  rebellion  of  1848  the  Irish  national 
cause,  so  far  as  Parliamentary  life  was  concerned,  became  a  continu- 
ous struggle  for  the  amelioration  of  the  Irish  land  tenure  system 
and  for  a  nearer  approach  to  religious  equality.  The  effects  of  the 
famine  were  long  felt,  and  emigration  to  America  grew  more  and 
more.  Those  who  emigrated  were  for  the  most  part  the  young, 
strong,  and  enterprising,  and  those  left  behind  were  the  least  capable 
of  effecting  the  industrial  and  social  regeneration  of  Ireland.  The 
population  of  the  country  declined  steadily  year  after  year,  and  has 
been  declining  to  the  present  day.  A  new  Ireland  sprang  up  in 
America,  where  the  Irish  emigrants  found  profitable  work  on  the 
expanses  of  land  and  in  the  great  cities  and  towns.  Irishmen  of 
capacity  began  to  take  influential  positions  and  to  hold  high  offices 
in  the  most  prosperous  and  progressive  States.  The  population  of 
Ireland  now  is  probably  hardly  more  than  half  what  it  was  in 
O'Connell's  earlier  days,  and  emigration  goes  steadily  on.  Ireland 
still  sent  her  representatives  to  the  House  of  Commons,  but  they 
found  work  enough  to  do  there  in  the  effort  to  obtain  legislation  for 
the  benefit  or  the  rescue  of  the.  Irish  tenant,  and  for  many  years 
little  was  heard  about  the  legislative  union  between  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland.  Nothing  more  was  heard  of  Repeal,  and  the  watch- 
word "  Home  Rule  "  had  not  yet  been  adopted.  But  the  literature 
of  Young  Ireland  had  made  its  mark  and  was  maintaining  its  influ- 
ence. It  had  revived  in  new  form  the  old-time  literary  character- 
istics of  the  Irish  people.  Its  ballads  were  sung  and  its  stories  were 
told  among  the  young  men  and  women  of  city  and  country  all  over 
the  island. 


Chapter   XLIV 

HOME   RULE 
By  Justin  McCarthy 

)4  N  efifort  which  at  one  time  seemed  very  hopeful  was  made 
/  \  by  the  government  for  the  diffusion  of  education  in  Ire- 
X  jL  land.  This  consisted  in  the  estabHshment  of  the  Queen's 
Colleges  and  the  Queen's  University  in  1847.  The  colleges,  three 
in  number,  were  founded  in  Belfast,  Cork,  and  Galway.  The 
Queen's  University,  to  which  the  collegiate  institutions  belonged, 
was  in  Dublin,  The  colleges  were  unsectarian  in  character,  and 
were  open  to  students  of  all  denominations.  The  character  and 
method  of  the  education  deserves  praise,  and  many  of  the  professors 
were  men  of  the  highest  standing  in  literature  or  science.  But  the 
scheme  did  not  succeed,  chiefly  because  secular  education  was  con- 
demned by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
population  held  aloof  from  "  the  Godless  Colleges,"  as  they  were 
often  termed.  Repeated  legislative  dealings  with  the  Irish  tithes 
system  had  done  much  to  relieve  the  country  from  the  fierce  strug- 
gles between  tithe-owner  and  tithe-payer,  and  the  disestablishment 
and  disendowment  of  the  Anglican  Church  in  Ireland  was  not 
far  off. 

At  this  time  a  political  organization  called  the  Fenian  Brother- 
hood was  started  in  the  United  States,  the  name  Fenian  being  taken 
from  the  ancient  history  of  Ireland,  in  which  it  represented  a  mem- 
ber of  the  national  militia.  The  name  was  happily  chosen  for  its 
especial  purpose,  because  it  appealed  to  national  sympathy,  and 
seemed  to  bring  the  Irish  exile  in  America  and  in  England  back  into 
association  with  the  traditions  of  his  people. 

One  of  the  founders  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  was  James 
Stephens,  who  had  been  "out"  with  Smith  O'Brien  in  1848,  and 
his  leadership  of  the  Fenian  movement  was  a  link  between  the  pres- 
ent and  the  past.  The  Fenians  were  organized  by  secret  enrollment, 
and  their  declared  object  was  to  make  Ireland  an  independent  repub- 
lic.    Stephens  came  to  Ireland  to  carry  on  the  work  there,  was 

234, 


HOMERULE  236 

arrested  and  committed  to  prison,  but  contrived  to  make  his  escape 
by  a  combination  of  cleverness  and  daring.  The  Irish  Fenians  in 
America  organized  an  invasion  of  Canada  in  May,  1866,  occupied 
Fort  Erie,  and  at  first  drove  back  the  Canadian  Volunteers ;  but  the 
invaders  were  speedily  driven  back  in  their  turn. 

In  England  the  Fenians  got  up  a  plan  for  seizing  Chester  Cas- 
tle, where  arms  were  believed  to  be  stored,  moving  on  to  Holyhead, 
taking  possession  of  any  large  steamers  there,  and  accomplishing  an 
invasion  of  Ireland.  The  plan  was  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  authorities  before  it  was  put  into  action,  and  it  failed.  In 
March,  1867,  an  attempt  at  a  general  rising  was  hazarded  in  Ire- 
land, but  it,  too,  proved  a  complete  failure.  Numbers  of  the  Fenians 
were  made  prisoners,  and  many  arrests  took  place  in  England  as 
well  as  in  Ireland.  In  Manchester  a  daring  and  successful  attempt 
was  made  by  a  body  of  Fenians  to  rescue  two  prisoners  from  a 
prison  van,  and  in  the  attempt  to  break  the  lock  of  the  van  by  a 
pistol  bullet,  a  policeman  inside  who  had  charge  of  the  prisoners 
was  killed.  Three  of  the  Fenians  were  tried,  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  death  on  the  charge  of  murder.  An  earnest  effort  was 
made  to  save  their  lives,  on  the  ground  that  the  death  of  the  police- 
man was  the  result  merely  of  accident,  and  not  of  an  attempt  to  kill, 
and  that  although  the  rescue  was  an  illegal  act,  the  men  engaged 
in  it  ought  not  to  be  treated  as  common  murderers  for  the  one 
calamity  which  it  unhappily  caused.  John  Bright  and  John  Stuart 
Mill  gave  all  the  weight  of  their  eloquence  and  their  argument  to 
obtain  pardon  for  the  condemned  Fenians.  Algernon  Charles  Swin- 
burne addressed  a  noble  poetic  appeal  for  mercy  to  the  people  of 
England.  These  efforts  failed.  The  three  convicted  men  were 
put  to  death,  and  have  ever  since  been  known  among  Irish 
Nationalists  all  over  the  world  as  "  the  Manchester  Martyrs." 
Timothy  Daniel  Sullivan's  "  Irish  National  Anthem  "  commemo- 
rates their  martyrdom. 

On  December  13,  1867,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Fenians  to 
blow  up  Clerkenwell  Prison,  with  the  hope  of  rescuing  one  of  their 
comrades.  The  attempt  failed,  and  the  explosion  caused  the  death 
of  some  entirely  innocent  and  unconcerned  persons,  and  created  a 
feeling  of  horror  throughout  the  whole  country.  Sober-minded 
observers  feared  that  excited  English  crowds  might  attempt  reprisals 
on  some  of  the  Irish  in  the  Metropolis,  but  no  such  acts  of  vengeance 
were  committed.     The  principal  offender  in  the  Clerkenwell  explo- 


236  IRELAND 

sion  was  tried,  found  guilty,  and  executed,  and  the  attempt  upon 
the  prison  was  utterly  condemned  by  Irishmen  as  well  as  by  English- 
men. Among  the  Fenians  in  America  there  was  a  certain  dynamite 
party  who  believed  that  the  English  people  could  be  frightened  into 
measures  of  justice  for  Ireland  by  plots  for  the  destruction  of  human 
life  in  English  cities.  An  attempt  made  to  blow  up  London  Bridge 
on  December  13,  1884,  and  one  to  blow  up  the  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment on  January  24,  1885,  both  ended  in  utter  failure.  It  ought 
to  be  said  that  the  recognized  Fenian  leaders  never  lent  any  counten- 
ance to  acts  of  this  atrocious  character.  Some  of  them  were  men 
of  high  honor  and  pure  motives.  Two  of  the  Fenians  who  were 
actually  condemned  to  death  afterward  won  credit  and  distinction 
in  peaceful  pursuits.  One  of  these  was  John  Boyle  O'Reilly,  whose 
death-sentence  was  commuted  to  penal  servitude  for  life,  and  who 
was  transported  to  Western  Australia.  He  contrived  to  escape, 
and  made  his  way  to  America.  He  settled  in  Boston,  rose  to  great 
distinction  as  a  journalist,  an  author,  and  an  orator,  and  was  made 
welcome  in  Boston's  most  cultured  literary  society  at  a  time  when 
Emerson,  Longfellow,  and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  were  still  living. 
The  other,  James  F.  X.  O'Brien,  has  been  for  many  years  a  respected 
member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  a  devoted  adherent  of  the 
Irish  National  Party.  Mr.  O'Brien  had  the  curious  distinction  of 
being  the  last  man  in  these  countries  on  whom  the  now  abolished 
sentence  of  death  with  drawing  and  quartering  included  was  passed. 
The  constitutional  agitation,  which  had  been  interrupted  by 
the  Fenian  projects,  soon  again  became  active.  It  found  a  leader 
in  Isaac  Butt,  the  eloquent  advocate  who  had  defended  some  of 
the  prisoners  at  the  Clonmel  Special  Commission,  and  had  made 
himself  prominent  as  a  sympathizer  with  Ireland's  claims  for  a 
National  Parliament,  Butt  was  a  Protestant,  and  was  a  Conserva- 
tive at  first,  but  he  had  become  thoroughly  sympathetic  with  Ireland's 
cause.  L'nder  his  leadership  the  name  Home  Rule  was  first  given 
to  the  new  constitutional  claim.  Butt's  policy  was  much  too  slow 
and  regular  for  tlie  energy  which  was  once  again  rising  among 
Irishmen.  His  plan  was  to  bring  forward  every  Session  a  motion 
in  favor  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland.  The  motion  was  introduced 
by  him  in  an  able  and  argumentative  speech,  was  the  subject  of  a 
formal  debate,  and,  when  the  division  was  taken,  was  found  to  have 
only  a  very  small  minority  of  supporters.  The  question  was  then 
shelved  until  the  next  Session. 


Cl!AKI,i:>    STKW  \K!'     l'\KXFI.I. 
rho'.i>:^i\irli    fn'iii    l:':' 


H  O  M  E     R  U  L  E  237 

Some  younger  Irishmen  were  meanwhile  coming  into  the 
House.  One  of  these  was  a  man  qualified  and  destined  to  make  for 
himself  an  enduring  name  in  Ireland's  history.  This  man  was 
Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  who  soon  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  new 
and  original  Parliamentary  movement.  Parnell  was  an  Irishman 
by  birth  and  residence,  but  he  belonged  to  an  old  English  family  of 
long  descent  who  had  been  settled  in  Cheshire  for  generations  before 
any  of  them  obtained  property  in  Ireland  and  made  a  home  there. 
One  of  his  ancestors  was  Thomas  ParnelU  author  of  "  The  Hermit." 
Later,  Sir  John  Parnell  lent  resolute  help  to  Henry  Grattan  in  the 
defense  of  the  Irish  independent  Parliament;  and,  later  still,  Sir 
Henry  Parnell  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Britisli  House  of 
Commons.  Charles  Stewart  Parnell  had  studied  at  Cambridge, 
but  had  given  no  evidence  of  any  commanding  ability  there,  and 
was  utterly  unknown  to  the  vast  majority  of  the  House  of  Commons 
when  in  April,  1875,  he  was  elected  as  Home  Rule  representative 
for  the  county  of  Meath.  Parnell  soon  showed  that  he  had  a  deep 
interest  in  the  land  question,  and  he  devised  and  introduced  a  policy 
which  came  to  be  known  as  the  policy  of  obstruction.  The  idea 
of  this  policy  was  that,  if  the  House  of  Commons  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed upon  to  devote  time  and  interest  to  the  demands  of  Ireland, 
the  Irish  National  representatives  must  make  it  clear  that  it  would 
not  be  allowed  to  attend  to  any  other  business.  Obstruction  had, 
indeed,  been  put  in  practice  again  and  again  by  English  statesmen 
for  the  purpose  of  talking  out  some  measure  obnoxious  to  them,  but 
it  had  never  before  been  employed  as  the  systematic  policy  of  a  Par- 
liamentary party.  The  Parnellites  debated  every  question  as  it 
came  up  with  unwearying  pertinacity,  and  as  the  rules  of  the  House 
were  not  then  framed  with  a  view  to  the  prevention  of  obstruction, 
they  kept  the  Commons  sitting  night  after  night  by  mere  continuity 
of  speech-making.  Butt  was  a  thoroughly  Parliamentary  politi- 
cian, and  set  himself  altogether  against  Parnell's  plans;  but  Parnell 
proved  too  strong  for  him,  and  soon  had  the  whole  strength  of  Irish 
Nationalism  at  home  and  abroad  under  his  command.  Butt  died 
in  May,  1879,  and  after  a  short  interval  Parnell  was  elected  leader 
of  the  Irish  Parliamentary  party.  Parneil  was  a  close  and  keen 
debater,  with  a  genius  for  tlie  work  he  had  to  do.  No  man  since 
O'Connell's  time  had  had  anything  like  the  same  command  over  the 
Irish  people,  and  Parnell  had  a  clearer  and  more  practical  Parlia- 
mentary policy  than  that  of  O'Connell's  later  days.     Parnell  espc- 


238  IRELAND 

cially  wanted  to  force  the  Irish  question  on  the  attention  of  Parlia- 
ment and  of  the  public,  and  this  he  was  well  able  to  accomplish. 
The  House  of  Commons,  at  the  instance  of  successive  administra- 
tions, introduced  new  rules  for  the  prevention  or  restriction  of 
obstruction,  but  the  discussions  on  each  new  proposal  gave  fresh 
opportunities  to  the  obstructive  policy.  New  coercive  measures 
were  introduced  for  Ireland,  and  legal  prosecutions  led  to  the  impris- 
onment of  Parnell  himself  and  many  of  his  leading  supporters,  but 
the  power  of  Parnell  could  not  be  broken.  Enlightened  English 
statesmen  were  beginning  to  ask  themselves  whether  there  must  not 
be  something  calling  for  consideration  in  a  cause  which  could  thus 
inspire  the  great  majority  of  the  Irish  people. 

The  greatest  English  statesman  then  living  gave  his  whole 
mind  to  the  subject,  and  became  a  convert  to  the  principle  of  Home 
Rule  for  Ireland.  This  statesman  was  William  Evvart  Gladstone. 
Gladstone  had  before  this  become  convinced  of  the  necessity  for 
making  some  change  in  the  land  tenure  system  of  Ireland,  and  for 
the  abolition  of  the  Irish  State  Church.  When  at  the  head  of  the 
government  in  1868  he  set  himself  to  accomplish  these  objects. 
During  that  administration  he  disestablished  and  disendowed  the 
Irish  State  Church.*  Gladstone  also  carried  a  measure  recognizing 
the  right  of  the  Irish  tenant  to  compensation  for  improvements 
effected  by  him  in  the  soil  which  he  had  cultivated  if  he  were  to  be 
deprived  of  his  farm,  and  although  imperfect  as  a  complete  settle- 
ment of  the  land  question,  this  was  the  first  step  in  the  legislation 
attempted  since  by  Conservative  and  Liberal  governments  for  secur- 
ing to  the  Irish  tenant  a  fair  chance  of  making  a  living  by  his 
industry.^ 

1  By  the  Disestablishing  Act,  the  whole  public  endowment,  including  what 
was  received  from  the  state,  was  put  at  the  disposal  of  Parliament,  while  the 
private  endowment  was  left  to  the  church.  Certain  vested  interests  were  re- 
garded, ^'/r.,  Maynooth  College,  Presbyterians  receiving  the  regium  donum 
(given  since  William  III.)  and  present  holders  of  livings.  Even  with  these 
payments  to  be  made,  a  large  sum  was  left  over  for  the  state  to  dispose  of. 
The  present  constitution  of  the  Irish  Episcopal  church  was  settled  in  1870. 

2  Tlie  first  attempt  to  settle  the  land  question  years  before  had  been  the 
appointment  of  the  Devon  Commission  by  Peel  in  1843.  This  commission  made 
an  exhaustive  investigation,  and  reported  in  1845,  recommending  compensation 
for  improvements,  etc.,  but  the  famine,  the  fall  of  the  Peel  ministry,  and  the 
rebellion  prevented  anything  being  done.  Russell's  bill  of  1847  was  rejected, 
and  the  Encumbered  Estates  Act,  providing  for  a  compulsory  sale  of  estates 
whose  rents  were  mortgaged,  in  the  hope  that  new  capital  would  improve  the 
estates,  proved  a  failure.  This  new  Land  Act  of  Gladstone,  in  1870,  provided 
for  non-eviction  so  long  as  rents  were  paid,  and  compensation  for  improve- 
ments made  by  the  tenants.    The  first  Land  Act  did  not  entirely  remedy  the  evil. 


HOMERULE  239 

Thus  Gladstone  was  applying  himself  to  the  question  of  Home 
Rule  when  the  murders  of  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  and  Mr.  Burke 
took  place  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  on  May  6,  1882,  and  sent  a 
shock  of  horror  all  through  the  civilized  world.  These  crimes  were 
the  work  of  one  of  the  small  subterranean  gangs  of  desperadoes 
who  had  then  chosen  to  associate  themselves  with  the  National 
cause  of  Ireland.  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  had  just  been  ap- 
pointed secretary  to  the  lord  lieutenant  by  Gladstone  with  the 
hope  of  introducing  a  more  conciliatory  form  of  administration  into 
Ireland  and  getting  rid  of  the  old  coercion  system.  Mr.  Burke  was 
one  of  the  permanent  officials  of  Dublin  Castle,  and  was  believed  to 
have  got  hold  of  the  secret  plans  concocted  by  these  desperadoes, 
and  to  have  discovered  the  identity  of  their  authors.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  object  of  the  conspirators  was  to  kill  Mr. 
Burke,  and  that  Lord  Frederick  was  done  to  death  only  because  he 
gallantly  endeavored  to  defend  his  companion,  with  whom  he  was 
walking  when  the  attack  was  made.  The  murders  in  the  Phoenix 
Park  were  publicly  condemned  by  all  the  leading  Irish  Nationalists 
everywhere,  and  were  deplored  all  the  more  because  they  naturally 
created  a  widespread  feeling  against  the  Irish  National  cause. 

Gladstone  remained  firm  to  his  faith  in  the  better  system  of 
government  needed  for  Ireland.  His  administration  was  driven 
out  of  office  in  1885  for  a  short  time,  but  he  soon  came  into  power 
again  after  a  general  election  in  1886.  He  then  introduced  his 
first  measure  of  Home  Rule.  The  two  leading  principles  of  this 
measure  were  that  Ireland  should  have  a  national  Parliament,  and 
that  she  should  have  no  representation  in  the  Parliament  at  West- 
minster.^    Grattan's   Parliament   was   to   be   restored   to   Ireland 

From  1877  on,  the  distress  was  great.  The  Land  League,  formed  in  1879,  had 
for  its  object  the  reduction  of  rents  (and  refusal  to  pay  if  not  reduced)  and  a 
change  in  the  system,  seeking  to  put  the  land  in  the  hands  of  the  peasants  rather 
than  of  the  landlords.  The  troubles  now  increased,  and  after  a  preliminary  in- 
vestigation by  a  commission,  Gladstone  brought  in  his  second  land  bill,  drawn 
up  by  W.  E.  Forster,  the  Secretary  for  Ireland.  This  was  known  as  the  3  F's 
Act,  providing  for  free  sale  of  a  tenant's  right  (the  landlord  had  the  right  of 
preemption)  ;  fixity  of  tenure  (except  for  non-payment  of  rent  and  other  stat- 
utory offenses)  ;  fair  rent,  to  be  determined  by  a  Land  Commission,  when  called 
upon,  for  a  term  of  fifteen  years. 

3  The  legislature  was  to  consist  of  a  single  assembly  of  two  orders,  sitting 
apart  under  certain  conditions,  the  first  order  consisting  of  representative  peers 
and  laymen  elected  by  highly  qualified  voters;  the  other  of  members  elected  by 
household  suffrage.  Irish  contributions  to  Imperial  revenues  were  fixed  at  about 
three  million  pounds;  there  were  to  be  no  Irish  representatives  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament. 


240  IRELAND 

without  the  absurd  old-world  qualifications  as  to  property  and 
religious  creed.  Gladstone's  scheme  of  Home  Rule  was  frus- 
trated by  a  secession  from  the  Liberal  Party.  John  Bright  was 
opposed  to  the  measure,  and  Mr.  Chamberlain  withdrew  from  the 
government  rather  than  give  it  his  countenance,  although  he  had  up 
to  that  time  been  regarded  by  Parnell  and  all  the  Irish  Nationalist 
members  as  a  strong  supporter  of  Home  Rule.  The  second  reading 
of  tlie  bill  brought  a  division  on  June  7,  1886,  and  the  measure  was 
rejected  by  a  majority  of  thirty,  341  votes  being  given  against  the 
second  reading,  and  only  311  in  its  favor.  Gladstone  appealed  to 
the  country,  and  the  result  was  that  the  Radicals  and  Home  Rulers 
were  defeated,  and  the  Conserv^atives  came  into  office.  Gladstone 
was  not  discouraged.  It  was  well  known  that  when  he  came  into 
power  again  he  would  introduce  another  Home  Rule  measure  with 
improved  conditions,  and  everybody  felt  quite  certain  that  should 
his  life  be  spared  he  must  before  long  be  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment once  again. 

In  the  meantime,  Ireland  suffered  a  memorable  and  melancholy 
loss.  Her  greatest  political  leader  died  at  Brighton  on  October 
6,  1891.  The  close  of  Parnell's  career  was  darkened  by  a  miserable 
scandal.  He  and  his  principal  followers  had  come  triumphantly 
out  of  the  ordeal  which  they  had  claimed,  in  justice  to  themselves, 
when  The  Times  newspaper  made  against  them  its  charges — of 
inciting  to  the  commission  of  crimes  and  paying  men  to  commit 
crimes,  and  the  less  serious  charge  of  promoting  a  dangerous  agita- 
tion— founded  on  letters  attributed  to  Parnell.  The  Special  Com- 
mission of  Judges  appointed  by  the  government  for  the  investiga- 
tion of  these  charges  found  that  the  letters  alleged  to  have  been 
written  by  Parnell  were  forgeries.  The  forger,  Pigott,  fled  to 
Spain,  and  committed  suicide  in  Madrid  to  avoid  arrest  and  extradi- 
tion. Parnell  and  his  colleagues  were  acquitted  by  the  Special  Com- 
mission of  all  the  serious  charges  brought  against  them. 

When  Parnell  appeared  in  the  House  of  Commons  after  the 
report  of  the  Judges,  he  was  received  with  a  welcome  from  the  whole 
Liberal  Party,  including  the  occupants  of  the  front  Opposition  bench 
and  even  some  brave  and  independent  men  among  the  Tory  ranks, 
such  as  had  probably  never  been  given  to  a  private  member  before. 
This  was  in  1890.  Soon  after  came  the  trial  in  the  Divorce  Court, 
and  its  result  brought  a  political  calamity  along  with  it.  Gladstone 
and  the  leading  Liberals  who  stood  by  him.  believed  that  it  would  be 


HOMERULE  241 

impossible  to  carry  a  Home  Rule  measure  if  Parnel!  should  retain 
the  leadership  of  the  Irish  party.  A  division  took  place  in  that 
party.  A  large  majority  called  upon  Parnell  to  resign,  while  the 
minority  insisted  that  he  must  be  maintained  in  the  position  of 
leader  at  all  hazards.  As  no  agreement  could  be  effected,  the  major- 
ity seceded  and  formed  a  separate  party  under  a  new  leader.  Par- 
nell and  his  followers  set  out  on  a  campaign  in  Ireland  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  power  over  the  people,  and  there  were  many 
fiercely  contested  elections.  Under  the  excitement  and  excessive 
fatigue,  Parnell's  health,  which  had  been  much  impaired  by  over- 
work for  some  years,  utterly  brok6  down,  and  he  came  to  his  early 
death. 

So  melancholy  a  close  to  a  great  political  career  is  not  often 
recorded  in  history.  Even  the  scandal  in  which  Parnell  came  to  be 
involved  did  not  convict  him  of  any  absolutely  unpardonable  moral 
delinquency,  and  he  made  every  reparation  in  his  power.  The  one 
fault  and  the  one  mistake  of  Parnell  were  soon  forgotten  by  Ireland 
as  she  bent  over  his  grave. 

The  auspices  under  which  Gladstone  introduced  his  new  Home 
Rule  measure  on  February  13,  1893,  were  especially  disheart- 
ening. The  second  measure  was  in  some  of  its  provisions  a  distinct 
improvement  on  the  first.  Its  principle  was  not  that  of  an  abso- 
lutely isolated  Irish  Parliament,  and  the  exclusion  of  Ireland  from 
any  representation  in  the  British  House  of  Commons.  It  proposed 
to  give  Ireland  a  domestic  or  national  Parliament  for  the  manage- 
ment of  her  own  affairs,  and  a  certain  proportionate  representation 
in  the  Imperial  Parliament.  Many  influential  English  and  Scottish 
Liberals  who  were  also  Home  Rulers  had  strongly  objected  to  the 
idea  of  severing  Ireland  from  any  representation  in  the  English 
House  of  Commons.  Ireland's  representation  in  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament was  to  be  made  up  of  eighty  members,  chosen  on  the  existing 
f[ualifications.  The  new  bill  was  therefore  regarded  with  greater 
favor  in  the  House  of  Commons  than  its  predecessor,  and  the  Plome 
Rule  cause  made  a  distinct  step  in  advance.  The  measure  passed 
through  the  Commons  by  a  majority  of  301  against  267,  and  was 
only  rejected  when  it  went  up  to  the  Lords.  The  principle  of  Home 
Rule  for  Ireland  thus  obtained  the  recognition  and  approval  of  the 
representative  chamber.^ 

■*  The    Irish    legislature    was    to    coiisi.-^t    oi    a    council,    clectcil    by    restricted 
suffrage,  and  an   assembly,  elected  as  the  Irish  members  at   Westminster  had 


242  IRELAND 

The  remainder  of  Ireland's  story,  thus  far,  may  be  told  in  short 
space.  The  Home  Rule  party  reunited  in  January,  1900,  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  John  Redmond,  who  had  led  the  Parnellite  party 
after  the  split,  and  who  now  found  trusting  followers  and  comrades 
among  all  sections  of  Irish  Nationalists.^  The  gradual  development 
of  England's  colonial  system  has  been  doing  much  to  teach  English- 
men that  the  abiding  union  of  the  Empire  is  to  be  found  in  that 
principle  of  domestic  self-government  which  has  made  the  Dominion 
of  Canada  and  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia  loyal  and  prosper- 
ous. In  our  most  recent  days  we  have  had  evidence  of  a  good  time 
coming  for  the  agricultural  populations  of  Ireland  such  as  no  pre- 
vious generation  has  seen  or  even  foreshadowed.  This  evidence  is 
found  in  the  conference  held  between  the  accredited  representatives 
of  the  Irish  landlords  on  the  one  side  and  of  the  Irish  tenants  on  the 
other.  Such  Irish  landlords  as  the  Earl  of  Dunraven  and  the  Earl 
of  Mayo. met  in  prolonged  conference  with  John  Redmond,  William 
O'Brien,  and  Thomas  W.  Russell,  the  latter  a  strong  Unionist  in 
politics,  who  had  rendered  devoted  service  to  the  Irish  tenantry,  and 
now  joined  with  leading  members  of  the  Home  Rule  party  in  repre- 
senting that  cause  at  the  conference.  The  mere  fact  that  such  a 
conference  should  have  met  together  to  discuss  the  land  question 
was  an  event  of  the  most  happy  augury,  and  one  new  to  the  story  of 
Ireland.^ 

The  conference  agreed  unanimously  in  the  adoption  of  a  length- 
ened report  clearly  setting  forth  the  principles  of  a  land-tenure  sys- 
tem which  would  enable  landlords  and  tenants  to  live  together  on 
the  soil,  while  the  tenant  was  to  be  helped  by  government  loans  to 
obtain  the  ownership  of  the  land,  and  thus  to  enjoy  the  secure  and 
the  increasing  fruit  of  his  labor.  George  Wyndham,  the  Irish  Chief 
Secretary,  at  once  brought  in  a  bill  creating  a  commission  to  buy 

been,  with  provisions  for  ending  a  possible  deadlock  between  the  two  houses. 
Five  years  was  to  be  the  limit  of  a  Parliament.  Executive  power  was  put  in  the 
hands  of  the  queen  and  lord  lieutenant  with  a  veto.  The  financial  clauses  were 
many  and  complex,  designating  certain  revenues  and  charges  to  Ireland. 

"•  The  Anti-Parnellite  majority  was  led  by  Justin  H.  McCarthy  from  1890  to 
1896,  and  then  by  John  Dillon,  although  there  was  a  split  under  Michael  Healy 
before  the  final  reunion. 

f>  After  the  act  of  1881  there  were  several  other  acts  passed  in  the  attempt 
to  settle  the  land  question.  The  Ashbourne  Acts  of  1885  and  1888  each  advanced 
5,000,000/.  to  help  the  peasants  pay  for  their  lands.  The  Balfour  act  of  1891 
provided  30,000,000/.,  the  government  to  advance  the  whole  amount  of  the  pur- 
chase price  and  to  be  repaid  in  installments,  and  the  Morley  Act  of  1896  gave 
greater  advantages  in  applying  the  act. 


H  0  M  E    R  U  L  E  243 

estates  from  landlords  and  sell  them  to  tenants,  thus  creating  a 
peasant  proprietary,  and  to  assist  the  tenants  by  means  of  a  gov- 
ernment loan/    This  bill  as  passed  is  known  as  the  1903  Land  Act. 

Home  rule  is  emphasized  as  the  "be-all  and  end-all"  of  the 
Irish  policy  and  programme.  The  General  Council  of  Irish  County 
Councils  which  met  in  Dublin  in  January,  1905,  expressed  strongly 
a  resolution  that  no  parliament  "save  an  Irish  parliament  sitting 
in  Ireland"  is  competent  to  make  Ireland's  laws.  The  question  of 
separate  government  played  an  important  part  in  the  elections  of 
1906.  The  large  majority  won  by  the  liberals  took  from  this  im- 
portance. In  the  death  of  Michael  Davitt  at  DubUn,  on  May  30, 
1906,  the  Irish  party  lost  one  of  its  strongest  leaders  and  most 
vigorous  exponents  of  Ireland's  rights. 

On  May  7,  1907,  the  government  introduced  into  parliament 
the  Irish  Council  Bill,  intended  to  be  the  first  step  toward  Home 
Rule,  but  this  bill  was  received  favorably  neither  by  the  English 
nor  by  the  Irish.  Two  forces  in  Ireland  worked  against  this  meas- 
ure: They  were  (i)  the  Sinn  Fein  movement,  which  aimed  to 
develop  the  natural  resources  of  Ireland  and  to  make  it  so  strong 
an  industrial  power  as  to  compel  recognition  of  its  independence; 
and  (2)  the  Gaelic  League,  which  purposes  to  revive  the  ancient 
Irish  language  and  make  it  the  official  tongue  of  the  country. 

The  government  also  introduced  another  piece  of  legislation 
for  Ireland.  This  was  the  Evicted  Tenants  Bill,  and  was  supple- 
mentary to  the  1903  Land  Act.  Whereas  that  Act  relied  on  vol- 
untary means,  this  compelled  the  restoration  of  land.  The  bill 
was  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

The  University  Bill  was  introduced  in  1907  and  passed  the 
following  year.  This  provided  for  the  chartering  of  two  new 
non-sectarian  universities,  at  Belfast  and  Dublin,  and  for  the 
closing  of  the  Royal  University. 

^The  provisions  of  this  act  were  a  free  grant  of  112,000,000/.  from  the  gov- 
ernment to  peasants  to  purchase  from  the  landlords,  to  be  repaid  at  the  rate  of 
3^  per  cent,  a  year.  The  amount  the  government  was  to  loan  was  limited  to 
500/.  in  congested  districts,  1,000/.  elsewhere.  This  act  met  with  some  slight  op- 
position in  Ireland,  but  as  the  Irish  party  leaders  had  had  a  part  in  drawing  it 
up,  they  advised  peaceable  acceptance,  and  now  all  classes  seem  content  to  allow 
it  a  fair  trial. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 

Chapter  I 

THE   GAELIC   PERIOD 

THE  northern  part  of  Great  Britain  is  now  called  Scotland, 
but  it  was  not  called  so  till  the  Scots,  a  Celtic  people, 
came  over  from  Ireland,  and  gave  their  name  to  it.  The 
Romans  who  first  mention  it  in  history  speak  of  it  as  Caledonia. 
There  are  two  points  in  which  the  history  of  this  country  and  of  the 
people  who  live  in  it  is  unlike  the  history  of  most  of  the  other 
countries  and  nations  of  Europe.  Firstly,  it  never  was  taken  into 
the  great  Roman  Empire ;  and  secondly  in  it  we  find  a  Celtic  people 
who,  instead  of  disappearing  before  the  Teutons,  held  their  ground 
against  them  so  well  that  in  the  end  the  Teutons  were  called  by  the 
name  of  the  Celtic  people,  were  ruled  by  the  Celtic  kings,  and 
fought  for  the  independence  of  the  Celtic  kingdom  as  fiercely  as  if 
they  had  themselves  been  of  the  Celtic  race.  But  the  whole  of  the 
country  is  not  of  the  same  nature.  The  northern  part  is  so  nearly 
cut  off  from  the  rest  of  Britain  by  the  two  great  Firths  of  Forth 
and  Clyde  as  to  form  almost  a  separate  island,  and  this  peninsula 
is  again  divided  into  Highlands  and  Lowlands,  Speaking  rouglily, 
we  may  say  that  all  the  west  is  Highland  and  the  east  Lowland.  A 
range  of  mountains  sweeping  in  a  semicircle  from  the  Firth  of 
Clyde  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dee,  known  as  Drumalbyn  or  the  Mount, 
may  be  taken  as  the  line  of  separation,  though  the  Lowlands  extend 
still  further  north  along  the  eastern  coast.  The  marked  differences 
between  these  two  districts  have  had  a  very  decided  influence  on  the 
character  of  the  inhabitants,  and  consequently  on  the  national  de- 
velopment. The  Lowlands  are  well  watered  and  fertile,  and  the 
people  who  lived  there  were  peaceable  and  industrious,  and  both  on 
the  seaboard  and  inland  there  is  early  notice  of  the  existence  of 
populous  and  thriving  towns.  The  Highlands,  on  the  contrary, 
are  made  up  of  lakes,  moors,  and  barren  hills,  whose  rocky  summits 
are  well-nigh  inaccessible,  and  whose  heath-clad  sides  are  of  little 
use  even  rr?  pasture.     Even  in  the  glens  between  the  mountains, 

247 


248  SCOTLAND 

where  alone  any  arable  land  is  to  be  found,  the  crops  are  poor,  the 
harvest  late  and  uncertain,  and  vegetation  of  any  kind  very  scanty. 
The  western  coast  is  cut  up  into  numberless  islets,  and  the  coast- 
line is  constantly  broken  by  steep  jagged  promontories  jutting  out 
seaward,  or  cut  by  long  lochs,  up  which  the  sea  runs  far  into  the 
land  between  hills  rising  almost  as  bare  and  straight  as  walls  on 
either  side.  In  the  Highlands  even  in  the  present  day  there  are  no 
towns  of  any  importance,  for  the  difficulty  of  access  by  land  and  the 
dangers  of  the  coast  have  made  commerce  well-nigh  impossible. 
The  Highlanders,  who  were  discouraged  by  the  barrenness  of  their 
native  mountains,  where  even  untiring  industry  could  only  secure  a 
bare  maintenance,  and  tempted  by  the  sight  of  prosperity  so  near 
them,  found  it  a  lighter  task  to  lift  the  crops  and  cattle  of  their 
neighbors  than  to  rear  their  own,  and  have  at  all  times  been  much 
given  to  pillaging  the  more  fortunate  Lowlanders,  of  whom  they 
were  the  justly  dreaded  scourge. 

As  the  country  is  thus  naturally  divided  into  two  parts  dis- 
tinctly opposite  in  character,  so  the  people  are  made  up  of  two 
distinct  branches  of  the  great  Aryan  family,  the  Celtic  and  the 
Teutonic.  The  Celts  were  the  first  comers,  and  were  in  possession 
when  the  country  became  historically  known;  that  is,  at  the  first 
invasion  of  the  Romans.  In  later  times  we  find  three  Celtic  peoples 
in  North  Britain,  to  wit,  the  Picts,  the  Scots,  and  the  Welsh.  The 
Picts  were  those  Celts  who  dwelt  north  of  the  Firths  in  Alba  or 
Alban,  as  the  earliest  traditions  call  it;  and  if  we  judge  from  the 
names  of  places  and  contemporary  accounts  and  notices,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  more  akin  to  the  Gaelic  than 
to  the  British  branch  of  the  Celtic  race.  The  Scots,  the  other 
Gaelic  people,  were,  when  we  first  hear  of  them,  settled  in  Ireland, 
whence  at  different  times  bands  of  them  came  over  to  the  western 
coast  of  Britain.  They  were  friends  and  allies  of  the  Picts,  and 
are  early  mentioned  as  fighting  on  their  side  against  the  Romans. 
After  a  time,  when  many  more  Scots  had  settled  in  Alba,  their  name 
became  common  to  all  the  Celts  north  of  the  Firths,  and  from  them 
the  whole  country  was  called  Scotland.  The  Celts  south  of  the 
Firths  were  partly  Christianized  and  civilized  by  the  Romans,  and 
thus  became  very  different  from  the  rest.  They  got  their  name  of 
Welsh  from  the  Teutonic  tribes  who  came  from  the  land  between 
the  Elbe  and  the  Eider,  and,  settling  along  the  eastern  coast,  finally 
took  possession  of  a  great  tract  of  country,  and  called  the  Celts 


GAELIC     PERIOD  249 

whom  they  displaced  Welshmen,  or  foreigners.  The  Celts  called 
all  these  new  comers  Saxons,  though  this  was  really  only  the  name 
of  one  of  the  first  tribes  that  came  over;  and  as  they  gradually 
spread  over  the  Lowlands,  the  word  Saxon  came  to  mean  simply 
Lowlander.  In  course  of  time  the  original  proportions  of  these 
two  races  have  been  nearly  reversed,  so  that  the  modern  Scottish 
nation,  though  it  keeps  its  Celtic  name,  instead  of  being  made  up  of 
three  Celts  to  one  Saxon,  is  much  more  nearly  three  Saxons  to  one 
Celt. 

The  Romans,  who  had  already  made  themselves  masters  of 
South  Britain,  were  led  into  the  northern  part  of  the  island  by 
Julius  Agricola,  80  a.  d.  But  the  Celts  whom  they  found  there, 
and  whom  they  called  Caledonians,  were  so  well  able  to  defend 
themselves  among  their  mountains  that  the  Romans,  though  they 
defeated  them  in  a  great  battle  on  the  Highland  border,  gave  up  the 
idea  of  conquering  the  country,  and  retreated  again  south  of  the 
Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde.  Across  the  isthmus  between  the  two, 
which  is  about  thirty  miles  wide,  they  built  a  line  of  forts,  joined  by 
a  rampart  of  earth.  This  rampart  was  intended  to  serve  as  a 
defense  to  their  colonists,  and  as  a  boundary  to  mark  the  limit  of 
their  empire ;  though,  as  many  Roman  remains  have  been  found 
north  of  the  isthmus,  they  must  have  had  settlements  without  as 
well  as  within  the  fortifications.  But  the  Caledonians,  who  were 
too  high-spirited  to  look  on  quietly  and  see  their  country  thus 
taken  possession  of,  harassed  the  colonists  by  getting  over  the  wall 
and  seizing  or  destroying  everything  they  could  lay  their  hands  on. 
At  length  (120  a.  d.)  the  Roman  Emperor  Hadrian  built  a  second 
rampart  across  the  lower  isthmus,  between  the  rivers  Tyne  and 
Solway,  leaving  the  district  between  the  two  pretty  much  at  the 
mercy  of  the  fierce  Picts,  as  the  Romans  now  began  to  call  the  Cale- 
donians. Twenty  years  later,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Anto- 
ninus Pius,  one  of  his  generals,  Lollius  Urbicus,  again  drove  them 
back  beyond  the  first  wall,  and  repaired  and  strengthened  the  de- 
fenses of  Agricola.  But,  before  half  a  century  had  passed,  the 
Picts  again  burst  the  barrier,  and  killed  the  Roman  commander. 
In  208  the  Emperor  Severus  cut  his  way  through  Caledonia  with  a 
large  army.  He  reached  the  northern  coast,  but  had  no  chance  of 
fighting  a  battle,  and  lost  many  of  his  men.  He  repaired  and 
strengthened  the  rampart  of  Hadrian.  In  time  the  Picts  got  over 
the  second  rampart,  too,  and  came  south  as  far  as  Kent,  where,  in 


250  SCOTLAND 

the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century,  Theodosius,  the  Roman  gen- 
eral, father  of  the  famous  emperor  of  the  same  name,  had  to  fight 
his  way  to  London  through  their  plundering  hordes.  Theodosius 
drove  them  back  with  great  vigor,  restored  the  Empire  to  its 
former  boundary,  and  made  the  district  between  the  walls  into  a 
Roman  province,  which  he  called  Valentia,  in  honor  of  Valentinian, 
who  was  then  emperor.  It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  the 
great  stone  wall  was  built  across  the  lower  isthmus.  The  dangers 
which  threatened  the  capital  of  the  Empire  in  the  beginning  of  the 
next  century  forced  the  Romans  to  forsake  this  as  well  as  all  their 
other  provinces  in  Britain,  and  the  withdrawal  of  their  troops  left 
the  Romanized  Britons  of  Valentia  a  helpless  prey  to  their  merciless 
enemies  the  Picts.  At  the  end  of  the  three  centuries  of  Roman 
occupation,  the  Britons  south  of  the  Firths  had  so  little  in  common 
with  the  wild  Picts,  who  in  Alba  and  in  Galloway  still  maintained 
their  independence,  that  they  were  like  people  of  different  races. 
The  one  set,  though  still  savage  and  heathen,  were  as  brave  and 
fierce  as  ever;  the  other,  though  Christianized  and  civilized,  were 
so  degenerated  from  the  vigor  of  the  original  stock  that  they  were 
powerless  to  resist  their  more  warlike  kinsmen. 

In  the  sixth  century  the  Angles  came  in  great  force  and  settled 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  Valentia,  and  drove  the  Britons,  or,  as  they 
called  them,  Welshmen,  back  to  the  Westland  Hills.  This  district 
then  between  the  Roman  walls  was  thus  divided  between  two 
kingdoms.  The  English  kingdom  of  Northumberland,  founded  in 
547,  took  in  all  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  south  of  the  Forth ; 
while  the  Welsh  kingdom,  called  Strathclyde  from  the  river  that 
watered  it,  stretched  from  the  Firth  of  Clyde  southward  toward 
the  Dee. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  English  were  pouring  in  on  the 
east,  the  Scots  were  settling  the  western  coast.  As  the  strait  which 
separates  Britain  from  Ireland  is  only  twelve  miles  broad,  the  Scots 
could  easily  come  over  from  Scotia,  as  Ireland  was  formerly  called, 
to  seek  their  fortune  in  the  larger  island.  It  is  impossible  to  fix 
the  date  of  their  first  coming,  but  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of 
the  sixth  century  that  there  came  over  a  swarm  numerous  and 
united  enough  to  found  a  separate  state.  This  is  one  of  the  few 
Celtic  migrations  on  record  from  west  to  east,  and  forms  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  displacement  that  was  going  on,  by  which 
the  Celts  were  being  driven  further  and  further  west  before  the 


GAELIC     PERIOD 


^61 


Teutons.  The  leaders  of  the  Scots  were  Fergus  MacErc,  and 
Lorn,  of  the  family  of  the  Dalriads,  the  ruling  dynasty  in  the 
north  of  Ireland,  and  from  them  this  new  state  founded  on  the 


western    coast   of   what   is   now   called    Argyle   got   the   name   of 
Dalriada. 

These  Scots  were  not  pagans  like  the  Picts  of  Alba,  for  Ire- 
land had  already  1)een  Christianized.  The  newcomers  brought  tlie 
new  faith  to  their  adopted  country,  and  through  them  it  spread 
among  the  Picts,  and  also  atuong  the  Knglish  of  Northumberland. 
The  great  apostle  of  the  Sc(~)ts  was  Cokuulia.      He  was  Abbot  of 


252  SCOTLAND 

Durow  in  Ireland,  but  after  many  years'  work  there  came  over  to 
the  new  colony  on  the  coast  of  Alba,  and  Conal,  who  was  then  king 
of  the  Dalriads,  welcomed  him,  and  gave  him  I,  or  lona,  an  islet 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  long  and  a  mile  broad,  lying  west  of  the 
large  island  of  Mull.  Here  Columba  settled  with  the  twelve  monks 
who  had  come  with  him,  and  here  they  built  for  the  service  of  God 
a  little  wooden  church  after  their  simple  fashion,  and  for  their  own 
dwelling  a  few  rude  huts  of  wattle,  which  in  after-times  was  called 
a  monasteiy,  where  they  passed  their  days  in  prayer  and  study.  But 
their  missionary  zeal  was  as  great  as  their  piety,  and  from  their 
headquarters  on  lona  they  went  cruising  about  among  the  adjacent 
islands,  extending  their  circuit  to  the  Orkneys,  and  even,  it  is  said, 
as  far  as  Iceland, 

Columba  himself  undertook  the  conversion  of  the  Picts. 
About  two  years  after  his  arrival  at  lona  he  set  out  on  this  impor- 
tant mission,  crossed  Drumalbyn,  sought  the  court  of  Brud,  the 
Pictish  king,  converted  him,  and  founded  religious  communities 
on  the  same  plan  as  that  of  lona,  on  lands  granted  to  him  by  the 
king  or  his  dependent  chiefs.  The  church  thus  set  up  was  per- 
fectly independent  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  or  of  any  other  See,  but 
it  inherited  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  Church  of  the  Irish  Scots. 
The  monks  had  a  way  of  their  own  of  reckoning  the  time  for  keep- 
ing Easter  and  of  shaving  their  heads,  trifles  which  were  considered 
important  enough  to  become  the  subject  of  a  very  long  quarrel,  and 
it  was  not  till  716  that  they  agreed  to  yield  to  the  Roman  custom 
in  both  matters.  According  to  their  system  of  church  government, 
the  abbots  of  the  monasteries  were  the  chief  dignitaries,  and  had  all 
the  power  which  in  the  rest  of  Christendom  was  held  to  belong  to 
bishops,  while  the  bishops  were  held  of  no  account  except  for  or- 
daining priests,  for  which  purpose  there  was  one  at  least  attached 
to  each  monastery.  Columba,  who  was  himself  of  the  royal  race, 
had  so  much  influence  among  the  Dalriads  that  his  authority  was 
called  in  to  settle  a  dispute  about  the  succession  to  the  throne.  The 
abbots  of  lona  after  him  continued  supreme  in  all  the  ecclesiastical 
aft'airs  of  Alba  till  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  while  the  well- 
earned  reputation  for  piety  and  learning  enjoyed  by  the  monks  of 
liis  foundation  was  widely  spread  in  continental  Europe.  About 
tliis  time  Rentigern  revived  among  the  Welshmen  of  Strathclyde 
tlie  dying  Christianity  which  had  been  planted  there  in  the  time  of 
the  Roman  occr.pat  i^^n. 


GAELIC     PERIOD  253 

The  English  of  Northumberland  were  still  heathens,  and,  as 
they  were  ever  fighting  with,  and  growing  greater  at  the  expense  of 
their  neighbors,  their  state  bade  fair  to  become  the  most  powerful 
in  Britain.  In  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  their  king, 
Eadwine,  was  supreme  over  all  Britain  south  of  the  Forth.  But 
though  Eadwine  was  converted  by  the  preaching  of  Paullinus,  the 
first  Bishop  of  York,  the  new  doctrine  does  not  seem  to  have  spread 
much  among  his  people ;  for  one  of  his  successors,  Oswald,  who  in 
his  youth  had  been  an  exile  at  the  court  of  his  kinsman  the  Pictish 
king,  prayed  the  monks  of  lona  to  send  him  one  of  their  number  to 
help  to  make  his  people  Christian.  Conan,  the  first  missionary  who 
went,  was  so  much  disgusted  with  the  manners  of  the  English  that 
he  very  soon  came  back  to  his  brethren.  Then  Aidan,  another  of 
their  number,  devoted  his  life  to  the  task  which  Conan  had  found 
so  distasteful.  He  taught  and  toiled  among  them  with  a  zeal  that 
was  seconded  by  Oswald,  the  king,  who  himself  acted  as  interpreter, 
making  the  sermons  of  the  monk  intelligible  to  his  English  hearers. 
From  Lindisfarne,  where  the  little  church  of  Aidan  was  founded, 
like  that  of  lona,  on  an  islet,  Christianity  spread  to  the  neighboring 
state  of  Mercia,  and  many  monasteries  and  schools  were  founded 
after  the  Columban  model. 

Oswald  and  his  successor  Oswin  extended  their  dominions 
beyond  the  Firths,  and  it  is  said  that  they  made  the  Scots  and  Picts 
pay  tribute  to  them.  The  next  king  marched  north  and  crossed  the 
Tay  with  a  mighty  host,  but  he  was  routed  and  slain  in  a  great 
battle.  From  that  time  the  English  seem  to  have  kept  more  to  the 
country  south  of  the  Forth,  and  the  Picts  were  more  independent  of 
them.  This  is  about  the  only  event  of  moment  that  we  know  of  in 
the  history  of  that  people,  of  whom  no  records  remain,  except  a 
long  list  of  their  kings  down  to  843,  at  which  date  they  became 
united  with  the  Scots  under  one  king. 

The  union  of  Picts  and  Scots  took  place  under  Kenneth 
MacAlpin.  who  was  king  of  the  Scots.  That  he  was  king  of  the 
J'icts  also  is  certain ;  how  he  came  to  be  so  can  only  be  guessed.  It 
is  more  probable  that  it  was  by  inheritance  than  by  conquest, 
though  he  and  the  kings  after  him  kept  his  original  title  of  King  of 
Scots.  Over  how  much  land  he  reigned  and  what  degree  of  power 
he  had  over  his  subjects  is  not  known.  It  is  thought  that  among 
the  Celts  the  king  was  only  the  head  of  the  dominant  tribe  among 
manv  other  tribes  or  clans,  each  of  which  was  bound  to  follow  its 


254  SCOTLAND 

own  chief,  and  the  king's  control  over  those  chiefs  seems  to  have 
been  more  in  name  than  in  fact.  The  northern  districts  seem  to  have 
been  ruled  by  powerful  chiefs  called  Maers  or  Mormaers.  These 
chiefs,  who  it  has  been  supposed  were  nominally  subject  to  the 
King-  of  Scots,  acted  as  if  they  were  quite  independent  of  him. 
They  were  indeed  his  most  troublesome  enemies,  and  several  of  the 
kings  lost  their  lives  in  battle  against  them.  Moray  was  the 
greatest  of  the  Mormaerships.  It  lay  north  of  the  Spey  and  of 
the  mountains  of  Argyle,  and  stretched  across  the  country  from 
the  Moray  Firth  to  the  opposite  ocean. 

The  reigns  of  Kenneth's  successors  were  mainly  taken  up  in 
fighting  with  the  Northmen,  a  heathen  people  of  Teutonic  race  who 
infested  the  seas  and  plundered  the  seaboard.  From  the  eighth 
century  downward  they  were  the  scourge  alike  of  English  and 
Celtic  Britain,  swooping  down  on  the  coasts,  harrying  the  lands, 
and  making  off  with  their  booty,  or,  at  other  times,  seizing  and 
settling  on  great  tracts  of  country.  Three  countries  of  modern 
Europe — Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden — were  peopled  by  the 
Northmen.  But  while  it  was  those  from  Denmark  who  chiefly 
harassed  and  finally  conquered  the  English,  the  Norwegians  seem 
to  have  looked  upon  Scotland  as  their  own  especial  prey,  attracted 
doubtless  by  the  likeness  between  its  many  isles  and  inlets  and  the 
jagged  outline  of  the  larger  Scandinavian  peninsula.  The  long 
narrow  lochs  of  the  western  coast,  like  the  fiords  of  Norway,  proved 
convenient  harbors  for  the  ships  of  these  pirates.  It  is  toward  the 
close  of  the  eighth  century  that  we  first  hear  of  the  descents  of  the 
Northmen  on  the  Pictish  kingdom.  It  is  told  how  they  ravaged  all 
the  coast,  destroyed  the  Pictish  capital,  and  haunted  the  Irish  Sea. 
Their  fury  was  especially  directed  against  churches  and  religious 
communities,  and  lona  did  not  escape.  Again  and  again  it  was 
wasted  by  fire  and  sword,  its  churches  plundered,  the  brethren 
slain,  till  at  length  the  abbot  was  compelled  to  seek  on  the  mainland 
a  refuge  for  himself  and  the  relics  of  the  saintly  founder.  Under 
Kenneth  ]\IacAlpin  the  supremacy  over  the  Scottish  Church  was 
transferred  to  the  monastery  of  Dunkeld.  Under  Kenneth's  son 
a  fresh  spirit  was  given  to  these  invasions  by  the  formation  of  the 
kingdom  of  Norway  by  Harold  Harfagra.  The  petty  chiefs  dis- 
placed by  him,  who  were  called  Vikings  or  dwellers  on  the  bays, 
sought  a  settlement  elsewhere.  Several  of  them  founded  settle- 
ments in  Ireland,  whence  they  came  to  plunder  the  western  shores 


GAELIC     PERIOD  255 

900-954 

of  Britain.  Others  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  Orkneys,  and  the 
Sudereys  or  Southern  Isles,  as  the  Northmen  called  those  isles  that 
are  now  known  as  the  Hebrides.  Those  in  the  Orkneys  were  sub- 
dued by  Harold,  who  made  the  islands  into  an  earldom  and  gave 
it  to  Sigurd,  one  of  his  allies.  Thorstein,  Sigurd's  successor, 
proved  a  formidable  foe  to  the  King  of  Scots,  made  himself  master 
of  all  the  north  country,  pretty  nearly  answering  to  the  modern 
counties  of  Caithness  and  Sutherland,  to  which  last  the  Northmen 
gave  its  name  because  it  lay  south  of  their  island  possessions.  On 
Thorstein's  death  his  great  earldom  fell  to  pieces.  About  this  time 
one  Cyric  or  Grig,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the  North- 
ern chiefs,  seized  on  the  throne  and  reigned  about  eighteen  years, 
leaving  his  name  on  record  as  the  liberator  of  the  Scottish  Church. 

Constantine  H.  (900-943),  grandson  of  Kenneth,  who  came 
after  Grig,  commended  himself  and  his  kingdom  to  Eadward,  king 
of  the  English,  in  924.  Constantine  chose  him  as  "  father  and 
lord,''  that  is,  he  placed  himself  under  his  protection,  and  acknowl- 
edged Eadward  as  mightier  than  himself.  On  this  compact  were 
based  the  subsequent  claims  of  the  English  to  the  overlordship  of 
the  Scots.  This  commendation  was  renewed  to  /Ethelstan,  Ead- 
ward's  successor.  But  Constantine  soon  repented  of  his  submis- 
sion, and  a  few  years  later  he  and  the  Welshmen  of  Strathclyde 
joined  the  Danes  in  their  attempt  to  get  back  Northumberland, 
from  which  /Ethelstan  had  expelled  them.  The  allies  were  utterly 
routed  in  the  great  battle  of  Brunanburh,  in  which  Constantine's 
son  was  slain,  in  937.  Six  years  later  Constantine  exchanged  civil 
for  spiritual  rule,  and  retired  as  abbot  to  the  Monastery  of  St. 
Andrews. 

]\Ialcolm  I.  (943-954)  succeeded  Constantine,  though  not  his 
son,  but  his  kinsman,  for  the  Scots  did  not  adhere  strictly  to  the 
order  of  succession  which  is  now  customary:  though  they  kept  to 
the  royal  family,  they  generally  preferred  the  brother  to  the  son 
of  the  last  king.  The  great  event  of  this  reign  was  the  annexation 
of  Strathclyde,  which  had  been  conquered  by  the  English  king 
Eadmund.  and  was  now  granted  by  him  to  Malcolm  as  a  territorial 
fief,  held  on  condition  of  doing  military  service  by  land  and  sea 
whenever  it  should  be  required.  Thus  Strathclyde  became  an 
appanage  of  the  heir  apparent  to  the  Scottish  crown.  Of  the  six 
kings  after  ]\Ialcolm  little  is  known.  They  passed  their  lives  and 
met  their  deaths  in  struggles  with  the  Welsh  or  with  their  own 


256  SCOTLAND 

954-1057 

northern  subjects.     Under  Induff  the  Scots  got  Edinburgh,  which 
had  been  founded  by  Eadwine  of  Northumberland. 

Malcolm  II.,  grandson  of  the  first  of  the  name,  was  the  last 
of  the  direct  line  of  Kenneth  MacAlpin.  His  reign,  which  lasted 
thirty  years,  is  notable  from  the  fact  that  he  managed  to  get  hold  of 
Lothian,  the  northern  part  of  Northumberland.  One  of  Mal- 
colm's first  acts  Avas  an  invasion  of  this  earldom.  The  earl,  being 
old  and  feeble,  shut  himself  up  in  his  castle  of  Bamborough  and 
let  Malcolm  advance  unresisted.  He  got  part  way,  but  was  met 
and  defeated  by  the  vigorous  son  of  the  old  earl.  Some  years 
later,  when  the  son  was  dead,  Malcolm  made  a  second  invasion, 
and  took  ample  revenge  for  his  defeat  in  the  brilliant  victory  at 
Carham,  on  the  banks  of  the  Tweed,  in  1018.  After  this  victory 
the  Scots  were  in  possession  of  Lothian,  which  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  was  not  strong  enough  to  take  from  them.  Their 
king  held  it  as  an  English  earldom,  and  did  homage  for  it  to  the 
king  of  England. 

In  103 1  Cnut,  the  mighty  Dane  who  reigned  over  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  England,  came  north,  and  Malcolm  met  him,  ac- 
knowledged him  as  his  overlord,  and  renewed  the  agreement  which 
had  been  made  between  Constantine  and  Eadward.  Three  years 
after  his  submission  to  Cnut,  Malcolm  died,  leaving  as  his  heir 
Duncan,  the  son  of  one  of  his  daughters.  There  is  a  tradition  that, 
to  secure  Duncan's  succession,  Malcolm  had  caused  the  grandson  of 
a  previous  king  to  be  murdered.  If  he  did  so,  this  crime  defeated 
its  own  end,  for  Gruach,  sister  of  the  murdered  man,  was  now  the 
wife  of  Macbeth,  the  Mormaer  of  Moray,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
chiefs.  Duncan  came  north  to  make  war  on  some  of  these  turbu- 
lent Maers,  and  Macbeth  seized  the  opportunity  thus  offered  by  the 
presence  of  the  king  in  his  province,  attacked  and  defeated  him  in 
battle,  and  afterward  slew  him  in  a  place  called  Bothgowan,  which 
is  thought  to  mean  a  smith's  hut. 

Macbeth,  whose  reign  extended  from  1040  to  1057,  must  not  be 
looked  on  as  an  usurper  and  murderer.  He  was  the  natural  sup- 
porter of  the  claims  of  his  wife  and  Lulach,  her  son  by  a  former 
marriage,  who,  according  to  the  received  rule  of  Gaelic  succession, 
had  a  better  right  to  the  throne  than  Duncan  himself ;  and  no 
doubt  he  justified  the  murder  of  the  young  king  as  lawful  revenge 
for  that  of  his  wife's  brother.  At  all  events,  after  he  had  got  the 
kingdom,  he  ruled  it  well  and  wiselv,  so  that  his  reign  was  a  time 


GAELIC     PERIOD  257 

1057-1066 

of  great  national  plenty  and  prosperity,  and  he  and  his  wife  were 
benefactors  of  the  church  and  of  the  poor,  not  only  at  home,  but 
abroad,  for  it  stands  on  record  that  they  sent  alms  to  the  poor  at 
Rome.  But  he  was  not  left  long  in  peaceable  possession,  for  the 
father  of  Duncan  got  up  a  rising  in  favor  of  his  two  grandsons, 
Malcolm  and  Donald.  About  the  same  time  Siward,  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  brought  an  army  against  Macbeth,  and  drove 
him  from  the  throne,  though  he  got  it  back  as  soon  as  Siward  went 
away.  Some  years  later  Siward,  whose  kinswoman  Duncan  had 
married,  again  took  up  the  cause  of  his  cousin  Malcolm,  invaded 
the  kingdom  and  defeated  the  king  in  a  great  battle ;  and  though 
Macbeth  held  out  for  four  years  longer,  he  was  at  last  slain. 
Lulach,  son  of  Gruach,  died  soon  after;  and  though  he  left  a  son 
whose  claim  was  brought  up  again  long  afterward,  there  was  no 
attempt  made  at  that  time  to  prolong  the  struggle. 

The  reign  of  this  Malcolm,  surnamed  Canmore  or  the  great 
head,  is  a  turning-point  in  Scottish  history,  which  henceforth 
ceases  to  be  essentially  Scottish,  the  Celtic  manners,  language, 
laws,  and  customs  being  changed  by  the  strong  English  influence 
brought  to  bear  on  them  in  this  and  the  following  reigns.  This 
change  was  in  great  measure  due  to  the  conquest  of  England  in 
1066  by  the  Normans  under  William  the  Conqueror.  The  Scot- 
tish court  was  the  nearest  and  most  natural  refuge  for  those  Eng- 
lishmen who  w^ould  not  yield  to  the  strangers.  Thither  they  flocked 
in  great  numbers,  and  there  they  found  a  hearty  welcome.  Among 
these  exiles  came  Eadgar  the  ^theling,  the  representative  of  the 
W^est-Saxon  kings,  and  with  him  his  mother  and  his  two  sisters, 
Margaret  and  Christina.  Malcolm  received  them  very  kindly,  and 
they  stayed  with  him  all  the  winter.  In  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  ]\Ialcolm  had  invaded  England,  where  Eadward  the  Con- 
fessor was  then  king,  and  had  wasted  the  shires  of  York  and 
Northumberland  while  the  earl  was  gone  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome. 
He  now  made  a  second  raid  of  the  same  sort,  although,  when 
William  held  his  court  at  York  two  years  before,  he  had  sent  in  his 
nominal  homage  to  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Durham.  This  time 
he  went  on  behalf  of  the  yEtheling,  and  harried  the  districts  of 
Cleveland  and  Durham,  which  had  already  been  wasted  by  William. 
His  progress  was  marked  by  every  species  of  cruelty ;  neither 
churches  nor  children  were  spared,  and  the  Scots  brought  back  so 
many  captives  that  Engiisli  slaves  were  to  be  found  even  in  the 


258  SCOTLAND 

1066-1002 

very  poorest  households.  Meanwhile  Eadgar,  who  had  taken  part 
in  two  or  three  risings  in  England,  again  sought  the  protection  of 
the  Scottish  court,  and  shortly  after  Malcolm  succeeded  in  per- 
suading Margaret  to  become  his  wife. 

In  1072  William  came  north  with  a  fleet  and  an  army  to 
avenge  Malcolm's  raid.  He  went  as  far  as  Abernethy  on  the  Tay, 
the  former  Pictish  capital,  and  there  Malcolm  met  him  and  ac- 
knowledged William  as  overlord  by  becoming  his  man  or  vassal, 
giving  hostages,  among  whom  was  his  own  son  Duncan,  as  war- 
rants for  his  good  faith.  But  some  years  later  Malcolm  took 
advantage  of  William's  absence  in  Normandy  to  harry  his  king- 
dom again  as  far  as  the  Tyne,  bringing  back  both  spoil  and  cap- 
tives. The  Conqueror's  eldest  son,  Robert,  came  north  to  avenge 
this  invasion,  but  happily  he  and  Malcolm  came  to  terms  without 
any  more  bloodshed.  This  peace  was  not  broken  till  1092,  when 
Malcolm  again  invaded  England.  The  excuse  for  this  was  that  his 
brother-in-law,  the  ^theling,  had  been  turned  out  of  the  retreat 
in  Normandy  granted  to  him  by  the  Conqueror.  William  Rufus, 
who  now  sat  on  his  father's  throne,  marched  into  Lothian,  where 
peace  was  again  made  by  the  mediation  of  Robert  and  Eadgar. 
Malcolm  renewed  his  homage,  and  William  renewed  the  grant 
made  by  his  father  of  certain  manors  and  a  yearly  payment  of 
twelve  marks.  But  William  did  not  keep  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty, 
and  when  Malcolm  complained  of  this  breach  of  good  faith  he  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  English  court  at  Gloucester.  He 
went,  but  soon  came  away  again,  justly  incensed  at  the  insulting 
way  in  which  he  was  treated  by  being  put  on  the  same  level  as  the 
Norman  barons.  For  the  fifth  time  Malcolm  entered  England  at 
the  head  of  an  army,  but  from  this  expedition  there  was  no  tri- 
umphant return,  for  the  king  and  his  son  were  slain  on  the  banks 
of  the  Alne,  and  the  host  that  had  followed  them  fled  in  great  con- 
fusion. 

The  disaster  did  not  end  with  the  death  of  the  king,  for  the 
good  Queen  Margaret,  who  was  then  at  Edinburgh,  died  of  grief 
almost  immediately  after  hearing  the  sad  tidings.  This  good 
woman,  whose  many  merits  have  won  for  her  the  title  of  saint,  was 
the  chief  worker  in  the  revolution  which  was  being  silently  wrought 
in  the  manners  of  the  court,  and  of  the  people,  and  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church  and  of  the  state.  The  influence  which  piety 
and  learning  gave  her  over  her  husband  and  his  people  was  used 


GAELIC     PERIOD  259 

1092-1097 

to  soften  his  fierceness,  and  to  win  them  from  their  own  half- 
savage  ways  to  the  customs  of  more  civihzed  countries.  She  is 
said  to  have  introduced  silver  plate  at  court,  and  many  other  lux- 
uries of  which  the  Scots  had  hitherto  been  ignorant;  she  encour- 
aged literature  and  commerce,  but  she  chiefly  busied  herself  in 
reviving  the  state  of  religion,  which  had  sunk  to  a  very  low  ebb. 
The  church  had  fallen  from  its  ancient  purity  and  zeal,  and  had 
become  a  prey  to  many  singular  abuses.  The  abbotships  were 
hereditary  in  the  great  families,  and  were  often  held  by  laymen, 
and  the  religious  foundations  were  in  the  hands  of  a  body  of  irreg- 
ular clergy  called  Culdees,  from  two  Latin  words  meaning  "  serv- 
ants of  God."  Margaret  called  a  council  of  the  clergy  and  spoke 
to  them  herself,  her  husband  acting  as  her  interpreter,  and  did  her 
best  to  make  them  give  up  their  peculiarities  and  follow  the  usages 
of  the  rest  of  Christendom.  She  rebuilt  the  church  of  lona,  which 
had  suffered  so  terribly  at  the  hands  of  the  Northmen,  and  founded 
a  new  church  at  Dunfermline,  in  which  she  and  her  husband  were 
buried. 

The  death  of  the  king  and  of  his  son  Eadward,  who  had  been 
recognized  as  heir-apparent,  threw  the  kingdom  into  confusion; 
and  the  Gaelic  party,  who  had  looked  on  with  disgust  and  jealousy 
at  the  changes  of  the  last  reign  and  at  the  displacement  of  the 
Gaelic  chiefs  by  the  English  immigrants,  elected  Donald  Bane, 
Malcolm's  brother,  to  the  vacant  throne.  Meanwhile  Duncan,  the 
son  of  Malcolm  and  his  first  wife,  prayed  William  Rufus  to  aid 
him  in  recovering  his  father's  kingdom,  which  he  promised  to 
hold  as  an  English  fief.  His  suit  was  granted,  and  with  the  help 
of  an  English  and  Norman  army  he  drove  out  his  uncle  and  reigned 
a  few  months.  But  in  1093  Donald  again  got  the  upper  hand, 
murdered  Duncan,  exiled  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  kept  posses- 
sion of  the  throne  for  three  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  Eadgar 
the  .Etheling  was  sent  north  with  an  English  army,  and  placed  his 
nephew  Eadgar  on  the  throne  on  the  same  terms  as  those  which 
had  been  granted  to  Duncan.  Donald  Bane  was  taken,  and  after  the 
cruel  custom  of  the  time,  his  eyes  were  put  out  before  he  was 
cast  into  prison. 

With  Donald  in  1097  ends  the  Gaelic  or  Celtic  period.  The 
sons  of  Margaret  carried  out  the  reforms  begun  by  their  mother, 
and  the  Celtic  customs  gave  way  more  and  more  to  the  Saxon  in- 
fluence both  in  the  court  and  in  the  country.      The  king  identified 


260  SCOTLAND 

1097 

himself  with  his  new  nobles  and  with  his  English  earldom,  so  that 
Lothian,  as  it  was  the  richest,  became  the  most  prominent  part  of 
his  dominions,  and  the  true  Scots  of  the  North  came  to  be  looked 
on  as  savages  and  aliens,  the  natural  enemies  and  perpetual  disturb- 
ers of  all  peace  and  prosperity.  The  records  of  this  period  are  so 
very  scanty  that  any  ideas  of  the  state  of  the  country  or  of  the 
habits  of  the  people  are  extremely  misty,  and  are  chiefly  drawn 
from  incidental  notices  of  Scottish  matters  in  the  chronicles  of 
other  lands.  The  chief  architectural  fragments  which  remain  to 
bear  witness  to  its  Christianity  are  the  round  bell-towers  in  the 
Irish  style  at  Brechin  and  at  Abernethy.  The  church  at  Brechin 
was  founded  by  Kenneth  the  Third. 

The  most  noteworthy  events  in  this  the  first  period  of  Scottish 
history  are  the  repulses  which  the  Romans  met  with  from  the 
Picts;  the  coming  of  the  Scots  from  Ireland;  their  union  with  the 
Picts  under  Kenneth  MacAlpin;  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
by  Columba;  the  conversion  of  the  Picts  and  of  the  English,  and 
the  joining  on  of  Strathclyde  and  Lothian  to  the  Scottish  Crown. 
We  must  also  notice  the  strong  feeling  of  hereditary  right  which 
kept  the  succession  for  so  long  in  one  family,  and  the  remarkable 
revolution  brought  about  by  the  English  exiles,  which  completely 
turned  the  current  of  the  national  life,  and  led  to  much  strife  and 
bitterness  between  the  two  races  of  v/hich  the  nation  was  made  up. 


Chapter    II 

THE    ENGLISH    PERIOD.     1097-1286 

IN  the  beginning  of  Eadgar's  reign  Magnus  Barfod,  King  of 
Norway,  made  good  his  right  to  the  Orkneys  and  the  Scan- 
dinavian earldom  on  the  mainland.  He  seized  the  two  earls 
and  placed  his  own  son  Sigurd  in  their  stead.  He  then  sailed  for 
the  Sudereys,  at  that  time  dependencies  of  the  Kingdom  of  Man, 
wasted  them  with  fire  and  sword,  marked  his  claim  by  sailing 
round  each  island,  and,  by  way  of  proving  his  right  to  Kintyre,  is 
said  to  have  had  himself  dragged  across  the  isthmus  that  joins  it  to 
the  mainland  in  his  ship,  with  his  hand  on  the  tiller.  On  his  death 
the  islands  fell  back  into  the  hands  of  the  former  owners,  and  their 
descendants,  the  Lords  of  the  Isles,  were  afterward  wont  to  declare 
themselves  vassals  of  Norway  whenever  it  suited  their  convenience. 
In  one  respect  only  did  this  expedition  differ  from  the  former 
piratical  descents  of  the  Northmen.  This  time  the  sacred  island  of 
lona  was  respected,  and  the  church,  so  lately  rebuilt,  was  left  unin- 
jured by  the  special  order  of  the  king. 

The  friendly  relations  with  England  were  maintained  and 
strengthened  by  the  marriage  of  Eadgar's  sister,  who  took  the 
name  of  Matilda,  with  Henry  I.,  the  youngest  son  of  William  the 
Conqueror.  She  proved  nearly  as  great  a  blessing  to  the  English 
as  her  English  mother  had  been  to  the  Scots,  for  she  taught  the 
king  to  "  love  his  folk,"  and  was  affectionately  remembered  by 
them  as  "  Maud,  the  Good  Queen."  On  his  deathbed  Eadgar  sepa- 
rated Strathclyde  from  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  and  conferred  it 
on  his  brother  David  as  a  return  for  the  wise  counsel  with 
which  that  brother  had  helped  him  through  his  very  unevent- 
ful reign.  Alexander  T.  (1107-1124),  unlike  his  easy-tempered 
brother,  had  a  strong  will  and  unyielding  spirit.  His  reign  was 
consequently  a  troubled  one,  as  always  happened  when  the  Scots 
king  tried  to  rule  instead  of  being  ruled  by  his  turbulent  subjects. 
His  first  difficulties  were  of  course  in  the  North.  The  men  of  Merne 
and  Moray  came  forth  secretly  and  swiftly,  hoping  to  suqorise  and 

261 


262  SCOTLAND 

1124-1135 

murder  him ;  but  their  tactics  were  upset  by  Alexander's  discovery 
of  the  plot  and  rapid  march  to  meet  them.  They  were  thus  forced 
to  fight,  and  were  thoroughly  beaten.  The  signal  vengeance  taken 
by  the  king  after  his  victory  won  for  him  the  title  of  "the  Fierce,"' 
and  to  commemorate  this  success  he  founded  the  monastery  of 
Scone. 

Alexander  deserves  to  be  remembered  for  the  spirit  and  wis- 
dom with  which  he  upheld  the  independence  of  the  national  church. 
Anxious  to  carry  out  in  the  same  spirit  the  reforms  already  begun 
by  his  mother,  he  appointed  her  confessor  Turgot,  Prior  of  Dur- 
ham, to  the  See  of  St.  Andrews,  and  asked  the  Archbishop  of  York 
to  consecrate  him.  The  archbishop  on  this  claimed  the  canonical 
obedience  of  all  the  Scottish  bishops,  declaring  that  the  whole 
country  was  in  his  province.  This  demand  was  clearly  unjust;  for, 
though  Lothian  was  undoubtedly  so,  the  Scottish  Church  was 
older  than  his  own,  and  had  never  been  dependent  on  any  foreign 
see.  This  difficulty  was  got  over  by  the  consecration  of  the  new 
bishop  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  Turgot  was  installed  as  head 
of  the  church  from  which  his  own  priory  of  Durham  had  orig- 
inally branched  off.  Instead  of  identifying  himself  with  the  in- 
terests of  this  new  charge,  he  did  all  he  could  to  bring  the  Scottish 
Church  under  the  authority  of  the  Archbishop  of  York,  so  that  he 
and  the  king  soon  quarreled;  and  as  the  king  refused  to  let  the 
bishop  go  to  Rome  to  lay  his  case  before  the  Pope,  he  resigned,  and 
went  back  to  Durham,  where  he  shortly  afterward  died.  To  evade 
the  claims  of  York,  the  king  resolved  that  his  next  bishop  should 
be  chosen  from  the  southern  province.  Eadmer,  a  monk  of  Canter- 
bury, the  friend  and  biographer  of  Anselm  the  Archbishop,  ac- 
cepted the  bishopric.  But  he  proved  no  better  than  Turgot,  for  he 
persisted  in  considering  himself  and  his  bishopric  as  dependent  on 
Canterbury,  and  as  the  king  would  on  no  account  agree  to  this,  he 
too  resigned  and  went  away.  Though  he  afterward  repented,  and 
proposed  to  return,  it  was  then  too  late,  for  Robert,  Prior  of  Scone, 
had  been  appointed  in  his  stead.  As  Alexander  left  no  children, 
his  brother  David  succeeded  him,  so  that  Strathclyde  or  Cumbria 
was  reunited  to  the  kingdom. 

The  usual  rising  in  Moray  took  place  in  the  early  part  of  the 
reign  of  David  L  (1124-1153),  being  an  attempt  on  the  throne 
while  the  king  was  in  England.  The  constable  of  the  kingdom, 
the  first  on  record,  defeated  them;  but  as  the  rebellion  still  contin- 


ENGLISH     PERIOD  263 

1135-1138 

ued,  David  in  alarm  asked  and  obtained  the  aid  of  the  barons  of 
the  north  of  England.  He  was  preparing  for  his  northern  march, 
when  the  Celts  took  fright,  and  gave  up  their  chief,  who  was  im- 
prisoned. The  district  of  Moray  was  declared  forfeited,  and  was 
divided  among  the  Norman  knights  whom  David  had  drawn  round 
him  when  prince  of  Strathclyde. 

In  1 135  Henry  I.  of  England  died,  and  David,  who  had  been 
among  the  first  to  swear  fealty,  for  the  lands  he  held  in  England, 
to  his  own  niece  Matilda,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Henry,  was  now 
the  first  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  her  right  against  Stephen. 
David  at  once  marched  into  England,  received  the  homage  of  the 
northern  barons,  and  took  possession  of  all  the  northern  strong- 
holds, except  Bamborough,  in  Matilda's  name.  Stephen  came 
north,  but  peace  was  made  between  them,  by  which  David's  son 
Henry  was  invested  with  the  English  possessions.  Henry  went 
south  with  Stephen,  at  whose  court  he  took  precedence  of  the 
English  barons.  This  roused  their  jealousy,  and  they  straightway 
left  the  court  in  a  body. 

David,  highly  indignant  at  this  insult,  recalled  his  son,  and  the 
next  year  prepared  to  invade  England  again,  nor  would  he  agree 
to  any  terms  of  peace,  unless  Henry  were  put  in  immediate 
possession  of  Northumberland.  In  1138  his  army  ravaged  the 
northern  counties,  and  won  some  successes.  But  their  excesses, 
and  the  fear  that  David,  as  the  representative  of  the  English  line, 
was  trying  to  win  the  English  crown  for  himself,  at  length  roused 
the  chivalry  of  northern  England,  who,  forgetting  party  feeling, 
made  common  cause  against  the  common  foe.  A  few  years  before 
they  had  prepared  to  help  David  in  suppressing  those  very  Celts 
whom  he  was  now  leading  against  themselves.  Against  such  men, 
inspired  by  such  righteous  indignation,  tlie  mixed  multitude  of 
Scots,  Picts  of  Galloway,  Welshmen  from  Strathclyde,  Northmen 
from  the  Orkneys,  and  English  from  tlie  Lothians,  who  with  a 
body  of  Norman  knights  made  up  the  so-called  Scottish  host,  had 
but  small  chance  of  success.  This  chance  was  made  still  smaller 
by  what  proved  fatal  to  the  cause  of  Scotland  in  many  an  after 
fight — the  inevitable  squabbles  between  the  rival  races.  The  Celts 
were  jealous  of  the  Norman  strangers,  and  clamored  so  loudly  for 
their  right  of  leading  the  van  that  David  at  last  gave  in  to  them. 
His  own  better  judgment  would  have  led  him  to  give  the  task  of 
breaking  the  hostile  ranks  to  his  well-armed,  well-mounted  horse- 


«64  SCOTLAND 

1138-1139 

men,  leaving  it  to  the  infantry  to  follow  up  their  advantage.  The 
two  armies  met  on  a  moor,  near  Northallerton,  where  the  English 
were  drawn  up  round  their  Standard,  which  was  so  singular  that 
from  it  the  battle  took  its  name,  the  "  Battle  of  the  Standard."  It 
was  the  consecrated  wafer  hoisted  on  a  ship's  mast,  with  the  ban- 
ners of  St.  Peter  of  York,  St.  John  of  Beverley,  and  St.  Wilfrith 
of  Ripon  floating  round  it.  Before  the  battle  commenced  a  last 
attempt  for  peace  was  made  by  two  Norman  barons,  whose  de- 
scendants afterward  played  a  great  part  in  Scottish  history.  These 
were  Robert  de  Brus  and  Bernard  de  Bailleul.  They  were  friends 
of  David  and  held  lands  from  him,  and  they  begged  him  not  to 
fight  with  the  old  friends  who  had  formerly  stood  by  him.  As  he 
was  unmoved  by  all  their  entreaties,  they  renounced  their  al- 
legiance, and  the  battle  began.  The  Galloway  men  made  a  fierce 
onslaught  on  the  English,  but  were  driven  back  and  beaten  down 
by  the  English  arrows.  They  fled,  and  by  their  flight  spread  con- 
fusion through  the  army.  The  panic  was  made  greater  by  a  cry 
that  the  king  was  slain,  and  though  David  did  all  he  could  to  rally 
the  fugitives  round  his  banner,  the  ancient  dragon  of  Wessex,  he 
was  forced  to  retire  upon  Carlisle,  where  his  son  Henry  joined  him 
a  few  days  after.  But  this  defeat  did  not  drive  the  Scots  out  of 
England,  and  fighting  still  kept  up. 

Next  year  peace  was  made.  Earl  Henry  was  invested  with 
the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  though  Stephen  kept  Bamborough 
and  Newcastle,  and  David  continued  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  northern  counties  till  his  death.  Two  years  after  this  peace 
he  again  took  up  arms  in  favor  of  Matilda,  and  it  was  by  David 
in  his  court  at  Carlisle  that  her  son  Henry  of  Anjou  was  knighted. 
The  close  of  David's  life  was  embittered  by  the  death  of  his  only 
son  Henry,  a  just  man  and  a  brave  soldier,  whose  loss  was  uni- 
versally lamented.  He  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Surrey,  and  left  three  sons,  the  two  eldest  of  whom  reigned  in  suc- 
cession. After  the  death  of  his  son  David  sent  his  eldest  grand- 
son through  the  provinces  to  be  acknowledged  as  his  successor,  and 
within  a  few  months  he  died  at  Carlisle,  and  was  buried  beside  his 
parents  at  Dunfermline. 

David  was  both  a  good  man  and  a  great  king.  He  upheld 
the  honor  of  his  kingdom  abroad,  and  did  so  much  for  the  welfare 
of  his  people  at  home  that  most  of  the  social  and  political  institu- 
tions of  the  later  king-dom  were  afterward  ascribed  to  him.     It  is 


ENGLISH     PERIOD  265 

1139-1157 

true  that  he  introduced  a  foreign  baronage,  for  he  encouraged 
many  Norman  barons  to  come  to  his  court,  and  by  the  lands  which 
he  gave  them  induced  them  to  settle  in  the  country.  He  thus  gave 
great  offense  to  the  native  chiefs;  but  he  did  not  forget  the  inter- 
ests of  the  commons,  for  he  increased  the  number  of  the  royal 
burghs  and  granted  many  privileges  and  immunities  to  the 
burghers.  The  life  of  David  has  been  written  by  his  friend  and 
admirer,  yEthelred,  the  Abbot  of  Rievaulx.  He  has  drawn  an  at- 
tractive picture  of  an  able  and  virtuous  prince,  kindly  and  courteous 
alike  to  high  and  low ;  ever  ready  to  listen  to  the  complaints  of  all 
his  subjects  and  to  set  wrong  right,  and  never  turning  his  face 
away  from  any  poor  man.  He  tells  us  how  the  king  himself  dealt 
out  justice  to  his  subjects,  and  in  his  progress  through  the  several 
districts  of  his  kingdom  used,  on  set  days,  in  person  to  hear  the 
suits  and  to  redress  the  wrongs  of  the  poor  and  oppressed  among 
his  people.  Six  bishoprics  were  either  founded  or  restored  by  him, 
and  many  abbeys  date  their  foundation  from  his  reign.  He  carried 
on  the  work  of  church  reform  by  inducing  the  Culdees  to  conform 
to  more  regular  ways,  on  pain  of  being  turned  out  of  their  monas- 
teries. His  reign  lasted  twenty-nine  years,  during  which  time 
the  country  continued  to  advance  steadily  in  wealth,  fertility,  and 
civilization.  There  is  little  doubt  that,  had  his  successor  possessed 
the  same  abilities,  the  future  boundary  of  the  kingdom  would  have 
been  the  Tees  instead  of  the  Tweed. 

Malcolm  was  not  quite  twelve  years  old  when  he  came  to  the 
throne  in  1153.  The  fact  that  he  retained  possession  of  it  proves 
that  the  principle  of  hereditary  succession  was  gaining  ground,  and 
that  his  grandfather  David  had  put  down  the  unruly  spirit  of  the 
northern  clans  and  had  more  firmly  established  a  regular  govern- 
ment. An  uprising  in  Galloway  took  place  while  Malcolm  v/as  in 
Aquitaine,  but  on  his  return  he  reduced  the  district  to  his  rule.  A 
few  years  later  a  dangerous  enemy,  the  Lord  of  Argyle.  who  ruled 
the  western  coast  with  the  power,  though  without  the  title  of  king, 
rose  against  Malcolm.  He  landed  with  a  large  force,  near  Ren- 
frew on  the  Clyde  but,  being  treacherously  slain,  his  followers  dis- 
persed. An  increase  of  power  was  thus  won  for  the  Crown  within 
the  limits  of  the  kingdom,  but  on  the  other  hand  the  northern  coun- 
ties of  England,  which  had  been  held  by  David,  were  lost,  for  Henry 
of  England  obliged  Malcolm  to  give  up  all  claim  to  them  in  1  157. 
At  the  same  time  Malcolm  was  invested  with  the  Honor  of  Hunt- 


266  SCOTLAND 

1157-1199 

ingdon  on  the  same  terms  as  those  on  which  it  had  been  held  by 
David. 

WilHam,  surnamed  the  Lion,  succeeded  his  brother  Malcolm 
in  1 165.  He  was  eager  to  regain  the  earldom  of  Northumberland, 
which  his  father  had  held  and  which  his  brother  had  lost.  As 
Henry  of  England  refused  it  to  him,  he  aided  the  sons  of  that 
monarch  in  their  rebellion  against  their  father,  and  when  Henry 
was  absent  in  France  he  invaded  his  kingdom  and  took  several 
strongholds.  But  by  his  own  imprudence  he  was  surprised  and 
captured,  with  the  best  of  his  nobles,  and  was  sent  for  greater 
security  to  Falaise,  in  Normandy,  July,  1174. 

In  the  end  of  the  year  William  regained  his  freedom  by  sign- 
ing a  treaty  called  the  Convention  of  Falaise,  the  hard  terms  of 
which  were  most  humiliating,  both  to  him  and  to  Scotland.  He 
was  in  future  to  hold  his  kingdom  on  the  same  terms  of  vassalage 
as  those  by  which  he  now  held  Lothian,  and  as  a  token  of  further 
dependence  his  barons  and  clergy  were  also  to  do  homage  to  the 
English  king,  who  was  to  be  put  in  possession  of  the  princi- 
pal strongholds.  His  brother,  David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  and 
twenty-one  other  barons  were  to  remain  as  hostages  till  the  strong- 
holds were  given  up,  and  on  their  release  each  was  to  leave  his 
son  or  next  heir  as  a  warrant  of  good  faith.  The  homage  was  per- 
formed in  the  following  year,  when  William  met  Henry  at  York; 
and  the  King  of  Scots,  with  his  earls,  barons,  free-tenants,  and 
clerg}^,  became  the  liegemen  of  the  King  of  England  in  St.  Peter's 
Minster.  The  clergy  swore  to  lay  the  kingdom  under  an  interdict, 
and  the  laity  to  hold  by  their  English  overlord,  should  William 
prove  unfaithful  to  him.  This  treaty  remained  in  force  till  the 
death  of  Henry  in  1189,  w^hen  Richard  of  England,  who  was  in 
want  of  money  for  his  crusade,  released  William,  for  the  sum  of 
10,000  marks,  from  these  extorted  obligations  and  restored  the 
strongholds,  though  he  refused  to  give  up  to  him  the  coveted 
earldom. 

When  John  succeeded  his  brother  on  the  throne  of  England, 
William  did  such  homage  to  him  as  the  King  of  Scots  had  been 
wont  to  render  to  the  King  of  England  before  the  Treaty  of 
Falaise.  He  met  John  at  Lincoln,  whither  he  was  escorted  by  a 
brilliant  retinue  of  English  barons.  But  there  was  no  kindly  feel- 
ing between  the  two  kings,  and  for  some  time  both  kings  kept 
threatening  armies  on  the  border. 


ENGLISH     PERIOD  261 

1199-1218 

At  a  great  council  held  in  1176,  the  Archbishop  of  York 
claimed  Scotland  as  a  part  of  his  province,  and  called  on  the  Scot- 
tish clergy  to  acknowledge  their  dependence.  They  protested  and 
appealed  to  the  Pope,  who  forbade  the  archbishop  to  press  his 
claim.  Clement  III.  in  1188  confirmed  their  claim  of  independence, 
on  the  ground  that  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  in  immediate 
dependence  on  the  Holy  See. 

During  William's  captivity,  Galloway  revolted,  and  until  the 
death  of  its  chief  there  was  little  peace.  William's  nephew  Roland 
then  seized  Galloway,  drove  out  his  opponents,  and  rebuilt  the 
royal  castles.  William  used  his  influence  to  induce  Henry  to  con- 
firm Roland  in  possession,  and  thereby  gained  a  devoted  and  faith- 
ful ally.  It  was  mainly  by  his  aid  that  William  was  enabled  to  put 
down  a  formidable  rising  in  the  North. 

During  this  reign  the  free  towns  began  to  rise  into  notice. 
Their  privilege  of  trade  and  right  to  govern  themselves  was  recog- 
nized by  a  charter  granted  to  the  city  of  Aberdeen,  in  which 
William  confirmed  his  burghers  north  of  the  Mount  in  their  right 
of  holding  their  own  court  or  "  free  anse,"'  as  they  had  done  in  the 
time  of  his  grandfather  David,  Thus  we  see  that  the  towns  of  the 
north  of  Scotland  were  united  for  mutual  support  a  century  before 
the  rise  of  the  great  continental  Hansa,  which  bound  together  by  a 
similar  league  the  trading  cities  of  the  Baltic.  Some  of  the  most 
important  towns  date  their  charters  from  William,  and  he  extended 
the  influence  of  civilization  in  the  North  by  holding  his  court  in 
such  remote  places  as  Elgin,  Nairn,  and  Inverness.  The  only 
religious  foundation  of  this  reign  was  the  abbey  of  Arbroath.  It 
was  dedicated  to  the  newest  saint  in  the  calendar,  Thomas  of 
Canterbury.  William  died  at  Stirling  in  1214,  leaving  one  son, 
Alexander,  who  succeeded  him. 

Alexander's  accession  was  the  signal  for  one  of  the  usual 
risings  in  jMoray;  but  as  the  power  of  the  Crown  in  that  district 
was  now  stronger  than  it  had  been  in  earlier  times,  this  rising  was 
more  easily  put  down  than  any  former  one  had  been.  In  tlie  great 
struggle  between  John  and  the  barons  in  England.  Alexander 
joined  the  barons  in  hopes  of  getting  back  Northumberland.  After 
tlie  death  of  John,  Alexander  did  the  usual  homage  to  Henry  III. 
and  was  invested  with  the  Honor  of  Huntingdon.  Four  years 
later  the  bond  between  them  was  drawn  closer  by  the  marriage  of 
Alexander  to  Joanna,  Henry's  sister.    This  alliance  was  followed 


268  SCOTLAND 

1218-1286 

by  a  lasting  peace,  though  Alexander  still  claimed  Northumber- 
land, and  Henry  upheld  the  right  of  the  Archbishop  of  York  to 
supremacy  over  the  Scottish  Church. 

In  1222  an  attempt  was  made  to  lay  down  a  definite  boundary 
between  the  two  countries.  Six  commissioners  on  either  side  were 
appointed,  and  though  the  exact  course  of  the  line  was  disputed, 
from  that  time  it  continued  pretty  much  what  it  is  now,  though  a 
wide  tract  on  either  side  was  claimed  alternately  by  both  nations 
and  belonged  in  reality  to  neither. 

Alexander  died  on  an  expedition  to  the  Western  Isles,  and  his 
son  Alexander,  a  child  of  eight  years,  was  crowned  with  great 
pomp  at  Scone,  the  ancient  crowning  place,  where  the  famous  Stone 
of  Destiny  was  kept.  The  tradition  was  that  no  one  who  had  not 
been  enthroned  on  this  stone  was  the  lawful  King  of  Scots.  Alex- 
ander married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  III.,  and  did  homage 
for  the  lands  he  held  in  England,  but  evaded  Henry's  claim  of 
homage  for  Scotland,  pleading  the  necessity  of  consulting  his  ad- 
visers before  giving  an  answer  on  so  difficult  a  matter.  This  ques- 
tion was  brought  up  again  in  1278,  when  Alexander  went  to  West- 
minster to  acknowledge  and  to  do  homage  to  Edward  L,  and  he  gave 
for  answer  that  he  did  homage  for  his  English  fiefs  alone  and  not  for 
his  kingdom.  Edward  asserted  his  right  as  overlord  of  the  king- 
dom, but  he  did  not  then  attempt  to  enforce  it.  During  Alexander's 
reign  came  the  last  invasion  of  the  Northmen,  in  1262,  under 
Hakon,  with  a  great  fleet.  They  made  numerous  raids  and  per- 
formed various  exploits.  When  an  attempt  was  made  at  a  peace- 
able agreement,  the  king  was  at  first  willing  to  give  up  all  claim  to 
the  Hebrides,  but  the  Scots  purposely  delayed  coming  to  terms,  as 
they  expected  that  the  autumn  storms  would  soon  help  them  to  get 
rid  of  their  enemy.  Nor  were  their  hopes  disappointed,  for  in  the 
beginning  of  October  a  violent  tempest  rose,  and  the  fleet  was 
dispersed  and  the  army  defeated.  Hakon  died,  and  his  son,  in  1266, 
agreed  to  give  up  Alan  and  the  Isles  for  1000  marks  down,  and  the 
promise  of  100  yearly.  In  1286  Alexander  was  killed  by  a  fall  from 
his  horse. 

No  chronicles  of  this  period,  written  by  natives  of  Scotland, 
have  come  down  to  us.  But  there  was  one  poet  who  was  held 
in  great  repute,  not  only  for  his  verses,  but  for  his  prophecies. 
This  was  Thomas  Learmouth  of  Ercildoum,  called  "  Thomas  the 
Rhymer,"  and   "  True  Thomas,"    from   the  general  belief   in  the 


ENGLISH     PERIOD  269 

1097-1286 

truth  of  his  predictions.  He  is  said  to  have  foretold  that  great 
national  calamity,  the  king's  death,  under  the  figure  of  a  great 
storm  that  should  blow,  "  so  stark  and  Strang,  that  all  Scotland 
sail  reu  efter  rycht  lang."  Another  Scotchman  of  note  was  Michael 
Scot,  the  famous  wizard.  The  buildings  of  this  period  were  chiefly 
the  churches  and  abbeys  founded  by  Margaret  and  her  descendants. 
They  were  all  in  the  same  style  as  contemporary  buildings  in  Eng- 
land. There  were  as  yet  very  few  castles,  that  is  fortified  buildings 
of  solid  masonry,  in  the  kingdom.  The  great  strongholds,  such 
as  Edinburgh,  Stirling,  and  Dunbarton,  were  steep  rocks,  made  so 
inaccessible  by  nature  that  they  needed  but  little  strengthening 
from  art.  Dwelling-houses  seem  to  have  been  generally  built  of 
wood. 

The  second  period  of  the  national  history  breaks  off  abruptly 
with  the  death  of  Alexander.  It  had  begun  with  the  dethronement 
of  Donald  Bane,  the  last  Celtic  king,  nearly  two  hundred  years 
before,  and  during  that  time  the  boundary  of  Scotland  had  been 
extended  by  the  annexation  of  Argyle  and  of  the  Isles,  while  her 
two  dependencies  of  Lothian  and  Galloway  had  been  drawn  more 
closely  to  her,  though  they  still  remained  separate  and  distinct. 
Throughout  this  period  the  influence  of  England,  though  peace- 
able, had  been  stronger  than  it  was  ever  to  be  again.  English  laws 
and  English  customs  had  been  brought  in,  and  had,  in  many  cases, 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  Celtic  usages.  The  Celtic  maers  had  been 
removed  to  make  way  for  the  sheriffs  of  the  Crown.  But,  as  Scot- 
land was  not  divided  like  England  into  shires,  the  sheriffs  were 
not,  as  in  England,  the  reeves  of  the  already  existing  shires,  but 
oflicers  who  were  placed  by  tlie  king  over  certain  districts.  These 
districts  or  sheriffdoms  became  the  counties  of  later  times.  Feudal- 
ism after  the  Norman  model,  with  all  its  burdensome  exactions  and 
oppressions,  had  been  brought  in  and  had  taken  firmer  root  in 
Scotland  than  it  ever  did  in  England.  The  native  chiefs  had  been 
displaced  by  foreign  nobles,  so  that  a  purely  Norman  baronage  held 
the  lands,  whether  peopled  by  a  Celtic  or  a  Saxon  peasantry.  In 
some  cases  the  new  owners  founded  families  afterward  known  un- 
der Celtic  names;  for,  while  the  Celts  gave  their  own  names  to  the 
lands  on  which  they  settled,  the  Normans  took  the  names  of  the 
lands  conferred  upon  them  and  bore  them  as  their  own.  The  long 
peace  with  England,  which  had  lasted  unbroken  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury, bad  been  marked  by  great  social  progress.     The  large  pro- 


270  SCOTLAND 

1096-1286 

portion  of  land  that  was  now  under  the  plow  proves  that  during 
this  untroubled  time  husbandry  must  have  thriven,  roads  and 
bridges  were  many  and  in  good  repair,  and  the  trading  towns  had 
made  great  advances  in  riches  and  power.  Hitherto  no  one  town 
had  distinctly  taken  its  place  as  the  capital.  Saint  John's  Town,  or 
Perth,  had,  from  its  connection  with  Scone,  some  claim  to  the  first 
place,  but  the  king  held  his  court  or  his  assize  indifferently  at  any 
of  the  royal  burghs.  These  burghs  were  of  great  importance  in 
the  state,  and,  as  the  burgesses  of  the  royal  burghs  were  all  vassals 
holding  direct  from  the  Crown,  they  acted  in  some  sort  as  a  check 
on  the  growing  power  of  the  nobles.  The  burghers  had  the  right 
of  governing  themselves  by  their  own  laws,  and  were  divided  into 
two  groups.  Those  north  of  the  Scots  Water  or  Firth  of  Forth 
were  bound  together  by  a  league  like  the  great  continental  Hansa, 
and  known  by  the  same  name;  while  those  in  Lothian,  represented 
by  the  four  principal  among  them — Roxburgh,  Stirling,  Edin- 
burgh, and  Berwick — held  their  "  court  of  the  four  burghs,"  which 
is  still  represented  by  the  "  Convention  of  Royal  Burghs  "  which 
meets  once  a  year  in  Edinburgh.  Nor  were  the  Scottish  towns  of 
this  period  in  any  way  behind  the  cities  of  the  Continent.  Berwick, 
the  richest  and  the  greatest,  was  said  by  a  writer  of  the  time  to 
rival  London.  Inverness  had  a  great  reputation  for  shipbuilding. 
A  ship  which  was  built  there  called  forth  the  envy  and  wonder  of 
the  French  nobles  of  that  time.  But  this  happy  state  of  things  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  death  of  the  king,  and  the  long  years  of 
war  and  misery  that  followed  went  far  to  sweep  away  all  traces  of 
the  high  state  of  civilization  and  prosperity  that  had  been  reached 
by  the  country  in  this,  the  golden  age  of  Scottish  history. 


Chapter    III 

STRUGGLE    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.     1286-1314 

WITHIN  a  month  from  Alexander's  death  the  Estates 
met  at  Scone,  and  appoitited  six  regents  to  govern  the 
kingdom  for  Margaret,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  a  child 
of  three  years,  who,  on  the  death  of  her  grandfather  Alexander, 
succeeded  to  the  throne.  Three  of  these  regents  were  for  the 
old  kingdom,  the  land  north  of  the  Scots  Water,  and  three  for 
Lothian  with  Galloway.  This  division  seems  to  show  that  the 
different  tenure  of  these  provinces  was  still  understood  and  acted 
on.  The  Scots  of  the  original  Celtic  kingdom  and  the  Englishmen 
of  Lothian  still  kept  aloof  from  one  another.  In  the  meantime 
Robert  Bruce,  a  Norman  baron  whose  forefathers  had  settled  in 
Annandale  in  the  twelfth  century,  made  an  attempt  to  seize  the 
Crown  by  force.  He  laid  claim  to  it  by  right  of  descent,  and  ap- 
pealed to  Edward  I.  of  England  as  overlord  to  support  him  in 
his  supposed  right.  At  the  same  time  other  appeals  against  him 
were  made.  Edward  did  not  encourage  Bruce,  but  on  the  contrary 
he  agreed  to  the  solution  that  the  Lady  Margaret  should  be  mar- 
ried to  Bruce's  eldest  son,  Edward.  This  agreement  was  accepted 
by  the  Clergy,  Nobility,  and  Community  of  Scotland.  It  also  pro- 
vided that  the  rights  and  liberties  of  Scotland  should  remain 
untouched ;  that  no  native  of  Scotland  was  to  be  called  on  to  do 
homage  or  to  answer  for  any  crime  beyond  the  border;  in  short, 
that  Scotland  was  to  keep  all  the  rights  and  lil>erties  which  belong 
to  a  distinct  national  life.  But  this  union  was  prevented  by  the  death 
of  the  Maid  of  Norway  on  her  way  to  Scotland. 

Alargaret  was  the  last  of  the  legitimate  descendants  of  William 
the  Lion.  The  nearest  heirs  were  John  Balliol,  Robert  Bruce,  and 
John  Llastings.  Besides  these  there  were  a  host  of  smaller  claim- 
ants whose  pretensir)ns  were  quite  untenable;  but  there  was  one 
other  who,  though  his  claim  was  very  shadowy,  was  first  in  power 
and  position  among  the  claimants.  This  was  Elorence,  Count  of 
Holland,  and  Bruce,  supported  by  his  son,  by  James  the  Steward 
and  by  other  nobles,  made  a  ])oncl  vvitli  Florence  by  which  each 

271 


272  SCOTLAND 

1291-1292 

pledged  himself,  in  case  he  got  the  kingdom,  to  give  the  other  a 
third  of  it.  Edward,  as  overlord,  was  appealed  to  to  settle  the 
matter,  as  it  was  feared  by  the  regents  that  Robert  Bruce  would 
seize  the  Crown  by  force,  and  all  the  competitors  seem  to  have 
acknowledged  Edward's  right  of  superiority. 

Edward  accordingly  summoned  a  council  at  Norham,  in  June, 
1 29 1,  to  decide  this  important  case.  The  real  contest  lay  between 
Bruce  and  Balliol.  Nearly  all  the  claimants  were  Norman  barons 
holding  lands  of  Edward.  Both  Bruce  and  Balliol  had  been 
granted  lands  by  David.  Bruce's  plea  was  that,  though  he  was 
the  child  of  a  younger  sister,  still  his  right  w^as  better  than  that  of 
Balliol,  as  he  was  one  degree  nearer  their  common  forefather,  and 
he  brought  forward  many  precedents  to  prove  that  in  such  a  case 
nearness  in  degree  was  to  be  preferred  to  seniority. 

Edward  decided  with  perfect  justice,  according  to  the  ideas 
of  modern  law,  that  Balliol,  as  the  grandson  of  the  eldest  daughter, 
had  the  best  right  to  the  throne.  In  early  times  in  Scotland  no  one 
would  have  thought  of  doubting  Bruce's  claim  as  next  in  degree. 
As  Edward  refused  to  divide  the  dominions  among  the  heirs  of 
the  three  daughters,  it  is  clear  that  he  looked  on  Scotland  as  a 
dependent  kingdom,  and  not  as  an  ordinary  fief,  which  would  have 
been  shared  among  the  three  rivals.  Judgment  was  given  at  Ber- 
wick, November,  1292,  eighteen  months  after  the  first  meeting  of 
the  council.  During  this  time  the  government  had  been  nominally 
in  the  hands  of  the  guardians  of  the  kingdom ;  but  Edward  had  the 
strongholds,  twenty-three  in  number,  in  his  own  hands,  and  seems 
to  have  looked  upon  the  two  countries  as  really  united.  At  the  end 
of  the  suit  he  gave  up  the  strongholds,  and  by  so  doing  showed  that 
he  meant  to  act  fairly. 

The  great  scheme  of  Edward's  life  was  to  unite  Britain  under 
one  government,  of  which  he  himself  was  to  be  the  head.  He  had 
already  added  to  England  the  dependent  principality  of  Wales. 
Hitherto  his  actions  toward  Scotland  had  been  perfectly  fair  and 
upright.  In  1292  he  placed  John  Balliol,  the  rightful  heir,  on  the 
throne:  but  his  way  of  placing  him  there  was  not  strictly  just;  the 
conditions  which  he  required  were  such  as  he  had  no  right  to  exact, 
nor  John  to  accept.  He  made  him  do  homage  for  his  kingdom  as 
though  it  had  been  an  English  fief.  Now%  though  this  w-as  true  as 
far  as  concerned  Lothian,  and  partly  true  as  concerned  Strathclyde, 
as  concerned  Scotland  it  was  untrue.   Although  Scotland  had,  since 


STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  273 

1292-1294 

924,  been  In  some  degree  subject  to  the  King  of  England,  this  de- 
pendence was  no  more  than  was  impHed  by  the  "  commendation," 
the  very  natural  relation  of  the  weaker  to  the  stronger.  But  it 
must  be  remembered  that  three  centuries  had  passed  since  that  first 
commendation,  and  in  that  time  the  original  simplicity  of  the  feudal 
tenure  had  been  altogether  changed  and  in  great  measure  forgotten. 
Edward  looked  on  the  three  parts  of  Scotland  as  fiefs,  and  there- 
fore subject  to  the  same  burdens  as  his  other  fiefs ;  the  Scots  knew 
that  the}^  were  not  thus  subject,  and  they  therefore  argued  that 
their  kingdom  was  in  no  way  dependent  on  England;  thus  both 
parties  were  partly  right  and  partly  wrong.  Even  the  amount  of 
dependence  implied  in  the  original  commendation  had,  in  the  last 
reign,  been  refused  by  the  Scottish  king,  and  had  not  been  insisted 
on  by  the  English  one.  But  John  Balliol  was  weak  and  foolish, 
while  Edward  was  wise,  strong,  and  determined  to  rule  the  whole 
country  indirectly  through  his  submissive  vassal. 

John  was  duly  crowned  and  enthroned  on  the  Stone  of 
Destiny,  after  which  he  renewed  his  homage  to  Edward,  He  then 
summoned  the  Estates  at  Scone.  This  was  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Estates  which  was  called  a  parliament.  John  was  not  popular  with 
his  subjects,  who  looked  on  him  as  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  Edward. 
Before  many  months  had  passed  an  appeal  was  made  to  Edward 
from  a  decision  in  Scotland,  and  as  this  was  a  violation  of  treaty 
rights,  Edward  forced  John  to  renounce  them.  More  appeals  fol- 
lowed, and  then  John  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England,  was  voted  a  contumacious  vassal,  and  com- 
manded to  give  up  the  three  principal  strongholds  of  his  kingdom 
into  the  hands  of  his  overlord  till  he  should  give  satisfaction. 

In  1294  war  broke  out  between  France  and  England,  and 
John,  with  the  nobles  and  commons  of  his  kingdom,  entered  into 
an  alliance  for  mutual  defense  with  Eric  of  Norway  and  Philip  of 
France  against  Edward.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  foreign 
policy  maintained  in  Scotland  for  several  centuries,  until  the 
Reformation,  when  religious  sympathy  got  the  better  of  national 
hatred,  and  Roman  Catholic  France  became  more  dreaded  than 
Protestant  England.  In  compliance  w'ith  this  treaty  a  Scottish 
army  crossed  the  border  and  swept  and  wasted  the  northern 
counties. 

Edward's  dealings  with  Scotland  now'  became  those  of  a  con- 
queror instead  of  a  protector.     The  beginning  of  the  war  by  the 


274  SCOTLAND 

1294-1296 

Scots  gave  him  the  excuse  for  which  he  was  waiting  for  conquer- 
ing their  country.  He  at  once  marched  northward,  with  a  great 
army,  and  besieged  and  took  Berwick,  a  large  and  wealthy  trading 
town,  and  in  vengeance  reduced  it  to  the  rank  of  a  common  market- 
town.  While  he  was  at  Berwick  John's  renunciation  of  fealty  was 
sent  to  him  by  the  party  for  independence,  who  were  keeping  their 
king  in  custody  lest  he  should  repent  and  submit.  Then  he  marched 
on  with  many  successes  to  Edinburgh  and  Perth.  To  crush  out  all 
idea  of  an  independent  kingdom,  and  to  let  the  people  see  that  they 
were  conquered,  he  carried  off  from  Scone  the  Storte  of  Destiny, 
with  which  the  fate  of  the  Scottish  monarchy  was  supposed  to  be 
mystically  joined.  This  stone  was  removed  to  Westminster,  and 
was  placed  under  the  seat  of  the  coronation-chair.  He  also  took 
with  him  the  Holy  Rood  of  Queen  Margaret,  and  obliged  all  the 
nobles  who  submitted  to  him  to  swear  allegiance  on  this  much 
valued  relic.  Edward  did  not  go  further  north  than  Elgin,  and  he 
returned  to  Berwick  in  1296,  having  marched  all  through  Scotland 
in  twenty-one  weeks.  All  the  nobles  and  prelates  did  personal 
homage  to  him.  John  submitted  himself  to  Edward's  pleasure, 
and  was  degraded  and  dispossessed.  He  was  then  sent  as  a  pris- 
oner to  England,  was  afterward  made  over  to  the  keeping  of  the 
Bishop  of  Vicenza,  the  Pope's  representative,  and  at  last  he  retired 
to  his  own  estates  in  Picardy,  where  he  died  in  13 15.  Edward 
treated  his  kingdom  as  a  fief  forfeited  by  the  treason  of  the  vassal 
who  held  it.  This  notion  of  the  thirteenth  century,  that  the  fief  was 
forfeited  by  treason,  would  not  have  occurred  to  anyone  in  the 
tenth  century,  when  probably  John  would  only  have  been  deposed, 
and  someone  else  set  up  in  his  stead.  The  seizure  of  Normandy 
from  John  of  England  by  Philip  of  France  was  a  case  of  the  same 
kind,  and  quite  as  unprecedented. 

Edward  at  once  took  measures  for  joining  Scotland  on  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  English  kingdom.  He  took  care  that  the  strong- 
holds should  be  commanded  and  garrisoned  by  persons  without  any 
Scottish  connection.  He  appointed  Englishmen  to  the  chief  offices ; 
took  measures  for  the  establishment  of  Courts  of  Chancery  and 
Exchequer  at  Berwick,  and  summoned  a  council  of  merchants  to 
consider  the  best  measures  for  the  future  conduct  of  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  country. 

The  Celts  in  the  North  looked  on  this  change  in  the  govern- 
ment with  apathy.    To  them  it  probably  made  little  difference  who 


STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  275 

1296-1297 

sat  on  the  Scottish  throne,  and  Edward  had  not  entered  their  dis- 
trict. The  Norman  nobles  quietly  agreed  to  it,  for  they  were  afraid 
of  losing  their  estates  in  England.  But  it  roused  a  spirit  of  defi- 
ance and  opposition  where  resistance  was  least  to  be  looked  for — 
among  the  Lowlanders.  They  were  the  descendants  of  the  earliest 
Teutonic  settlers,  and  had  remained  more  purely  English  in  blood 
and  speech  than  their  kinsfolk  on  the  southern  side  of  the  border. 
This  latent  feeling  of  discontent  gradually  ripened  into  rebellion, 
and  the  standard  of  revolt  was  raised  by  William  Wallace,  who, 
unlike  most  of  his  countrymen,  had  not  sworn  allegiance  to  Ed- 
ward. He  surprised  and  cut  to  pieces  the  English  garrison  at 
Lanark,  and  slew  the  newly  appointed  sheriff  of  Ayr.  This  out- 
break was  followed  by  similar  attacks  on  detached  bodies  of  the 
troops  in  occupation.  After  these  successes  Wallace  was  joined  by 
William  of  Douglas,  a  renowned  soldier,  and  by  Robert  Bruce, 
Earl  of  Carrick,  grandson  of  the  original  claimant  of  the  crown. 
But  there  was  a  want  of  system  and  of  unity  of  purpose  in  the 
nation,  and  this  noble  effort  on  the  part  of  the  people  was  not  sec- 
onded by  the  nobles,  and  when  a  large  English  army  was  sent  by 
Edward  to  put  down  the  rising,  those  of  the  nobles  who  had  joined 
the  popular  movement  deserted.  But  when  Edward,  who  believed 
the  revolt  to  be  completely  crushed,  was  absent  in  Flanders,  Wal- 
lace mustered  the  people  of  the  Lowlands  north  of  the  Tay  and 
made  himself  master  of  the  strongholds  in  that  district. 

The  English  army  was  now  hastening  northward.  Wallace 
resolved  to  give  it  battle  on  the  carse  of  Stirling,  a  level  plain, 
across  which  the  River  Forth  winds  in  and  out  among  tlie  meadows 
like  the  links  of  a  silver  chain.  Wallace  showed  his  skill  as  a  gen- 
eral by  the  choice  of  the  ground  on  which  he  posted  his  men.  He 
drew  them  up  within  one  of  the  links  of  the  river,  which  swept 
round  in  front  between  them  and  the  English,  while  a  steep  rocky 
hill,  called  the  Abbey  Craig,  rose  right  behind  them  and  protected 
the  rear.  The  English  had  to  cross  the  river  by  a  narrow  bridge. 
Wallace  waited  till  half  of  them  were  over,  and  then  attacked  them. 
Taken  thus  at  a  disadvantage,  they  were  easily  routed.  The  panic 
spread  to  those  on  the  opposite  bank,  who  fled  in  disorder.  After 
this  action,  called  the  Battle  of  Stirling  and  fought  September  ii, 
1297,  ^^^^  Scots  recovered  the  strongholds  south  of  the  Forth,  and 
\\\allace  acted  as  guardian  of  the  kingdom  in  the  name  of  King 
John,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  commons.     Unhappily  the  Scots 


276  SCOTLAND 

1297-1303 

were  not  content  with  driving  out  the  invaders,  but  carried  the  war 
over  the  border,  and  wasted  the  northern  counties  of  England  with 
all  the  fierceness  and  cruelty  of  brigands. 

Edward  returned  from  Flanders  and  raised  a  large  army  for 
the  subjection  of  Scotland.  The  king  himself  led  the  army.  The 
Scots  wasted  the  country  and  retreated;  and  Wallace,  who  knew 
well  the  weakness  of  his  own  force,  tried  to  avoid  a  battle  till  the 
great  army  of  Edward  should  be  exhausted  from  want  of  food, 
but  at  Falkirk  the  king  forced  his  enemy  to  give  battle.  At  Stirling 
Wallace  had  won  the  day  by  his  happy  choice  of  the  ground ;  he 
now  showed  still  greater  skill  by  the  way  in  which  he  drew  up  his 
little  army.  It  was  made  up  for  the  most  part  of  footmen,  who  at 
that  tim.e  were  held  of  no  account  as  soldiers,  in  comparison  with 
mounted  men-at-arms.  He  drew  them  up  in  circular  masses;  the 
spearmen,  kneeling,  without  and  the  bowmen  within.  But,  though 
they  fought  well  and  held  their  ground  bravely,  and  the  English 
horse  were  driven  back  by  the  spear-points,  the  Scots  were  at  last 
beaten  down  by  force  of  numbers,  and  the  English  won  the  day, 
1298.  After  this  defeat  Wallace  resigned  the  guardianship.  In 
the  spring  of  1303  Edward  marched  north  at  the  head  of  a  great 
army  and  again  subdued  the  whole  country.  All  the  leaders  in  the 
late  rising  were  left  unharmed  in  life,  liberty,  or  estate,  with  the 
exception  of  William  Wallace.  He  was  required  to  submit  uncon- 
ditionally to  the  king's  grace. 

Wallace  had  been  on  the  Continent  ever  since  the  battle  of 
Falkirk.  He  now  came  back,  but  was  betrayed  by  his  servant,  and 
sent  to  London.  He  was  there  tried  for  treason  and  rebellion 
against  Edward.  He  pleaded  in  his  own  defense  that  he  had  never 
sworn  fealty  to  Edward.  In  spite  of  this  he  was  found  guilty, 
condemned  to  death,  and  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  according 
to  the  barbarous  practice  which  was  then  coming  into  use  in 
England. 

Edward  then  set  to  work  to  complete  the  union  of  the  two 
kingdoms.  In  the  meantime  Scotland  was  to  be  governed  by  a 
lieutenant  aided  by  a  council  of  barons  and  churchmen.  It  was  to 
be  represented  in  the  English  Parliament  by  ten  deputies — four 
churchmen,  four  barons,  and  two  members  of  the  commons,  one 
for  the  country  north  of  the  Firths,  one  for  the  south.  These  mem- 
bers attended  one  Parliament  at  Westminster,  and  an  ordinance  was 
issued  for  the  government  of  Scotland.     Officers  were  appointed; 


STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  277 

1303-1305 

the  strongholds  were  put  under  governors  for  the  king,  and  an 
inquiry  was  ordered  into  the  state  of  the  laws  in  order  to  take 
measures  for  their  amendment.  Edward's  policy  in  all  this  was 
to  win  favor  with  the  people  and  the  members  of  the  council,  al- 
though many  of  them,  such  as  Bruce  and  Wishart,  Bishop  of  Glas- 
gow, had  taken  part  in  the  last  rising.  The  king's  peace  was  now 
offered  to  all  rebels  who  would  profit  by  it.  But  the  great  difficulty 
in  dealing  with  the  Scots  was  that  they  ne\'er  knew  when  they 
were  conquered,  and,  just  when  Edward  hoped  that  his  scheme  for 
union  was  carried  out,  they  rose  in  arms  once  more. 

The  leader  this  time  was  Robert  Bruce,  the  grandson  and  heir 
of  the  rival  of  Balliol.  He  had  joined  Wallace,  but  had  again 
sworn  fealty  to  Edward,  and  had  since  then  received  many  favors 
from  the  English  king.  Bruce  signed  a  bond  with  William  Lam- 
berton,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had  also  been  one  of  Wallace's 
supporters.  In  this  bond  each  party  swore  to  stand  by  the  other 
in  all  his  undertakings,  no  matter  what,  and  not  to  act  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  other.  The  signing  of  such  bonds  became  a 
prominent  and  distinctive  feature  in  the  after-history  of  Scotland. 
This  bond  became  known  to  Edward,  and  Bruce,  afraid  of  his 
anger,  fled  from  London  to  Dumfries.  There  in  a  church  he 
wounded  the  Red  Comyn,  the  next  heir  after  the  Balliols,  whom 
one  of  his  followers  tlien  slew.  By  this  murder  and  sacrilege 
Bruce  put  himself  at  once  out  of  the  pale  of  the  law  and  of  the 
church,  but  by  it  he  became  the  nearest  heir  to  the  crown,  after  the 
Balliols.  This  gave  him  a  great  hold  on  the  people,  whose  faith 
in  the  virtue  of  hereditary  succession  was  strong,  and  on  whom  the 
English  yoke  weighed  heavily.  On  March  27,  1306,  Bruce  was 
crowned  with  as  near  an  imitation  of  the  old  ceremonies  as  could 
be  compassed  on  such  short  notice. 

Edward  determined  this  time  to  put  down  the  Scots  with  rigor. 
A  new  governor  was  appointed,  those  concerned  in  the  murder  of 
Red  Comyn  were  denounced  as  traitors,  and  death  was  to  be  the 
fate  of  all  persons  taken  in  arms.  Bruce  was  excommunicated  by  a 
special  bull  from  the  Pope.  Relatives  of  Bruce  were  imprisoned 
and  put  to  death  as  traitors.  This,  the  first  noble  blood  that  had 
been  shed  in  the  popular  cause,  did  much  to  unite  the  sympathy  of 
the  nobles  with  the  commons,  who  had  hitherto  been  the  only 
sufferers  from  the  oppression  of  the  conquerors.  Edward  this  time 
made  greater  preparations  than  ever.     All  classes  of  his  subjects 


^>78  SCOTLAND 

1306-1314 

from  all  parts  of  bis  dominions  were  invited  to  join  the  army,  and 
he  exhorted  his  son,  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  300  newly- 
created  knights,  to  win  their  spurs  worthily  in  the  reduction  of 
the  contumacious  Scots,  It  was  well  for  Scotland  that  he  did  not 
live  to  carry  out  his  vows  of  vengeance.  He  died  at  Burgh-on-the- 
Sands,  July  30.  His  death  proved  a  turning-point  in  the  history 
of  Scotland,  for,  though  the  English  still  remained  in  possession  of 
the  strongholds,  Edward  H.  took  no  effective  steps  to  crush  the 
rebels.  He  only  brought  the  army  raised  by  his  father  as  far  as 
Cumnock  in  Ayrshire,  and  retreated  without  doing  anything. 

For  several  years  King  Robert  was  an  outlaw  and  a  fugitive 
with  but  a  handful  of  followers.  Their  lives  were  in  constant 
danger.  Whenever  an  opportunity  offered,  they  made  daring  at- 
tacks on  the  English;  at  other  times  they  saved  their  lives  by  hair- 
breadth escapes  from  their  pursuit.  The  Celts  of  the  west  and  of 
Galloway,  who  had  been  won  over  to  the  English  interest,  were 
against  them,  and  the  relatives  of  Red  Comyn  were  Bruce's  most 
deadly  enemies.  At  one  time  Bruce  had  met  with  so  many  defeats 
that  he  left  Scotland  and  thought  of  giving  up  the  struggle  and 
going  to  the  Holy  Land.  Tradition  says  that  the  example  of  a 
spider  which  had  tried  six  times  unsuccessfully  to  throw  its  web, 
and  succeeded  the  seventh,  stirred  him  up  to  fresh  courage  and  en- 
durance. Bruce  took  it  as  a  happy  omen,  and  went  back  to  Scot- 
land. He  joined  some  of  his  followers  In  the  Isle  of  Arran.  From 
the  island  they  went  to  the  mainland,  and  from  that  time  the  tide 
of  fortune  seemed  to  turn,  and  to  bring  him  good  luck  instead  of 
bad.  Still  he  had  to  go  through  many  perils.  The  story  of  his 
exploits  has  been  handed  down  to  us  by  John  Barbour,  Archdeacon 
of  Aberdeen.  He  describes  Bruce  as  a  strong,  tall  man,  so  cheerful 
and  good-humored  that  he  kept  up  the  spirits  of  his  followers  no 
matter  what  mishaps  befell  them,  always  first  in  danger,  and  often 
owing  his  life  to  his  own  wit  and  daring.  The  first  decided  success 
of  Bruce  was  the  defeat  of  an  old  enemy,  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  who 
with  his  follov/ers  joined  the  English  and  forced  Bruce  to  fight 
near  Inverary.  Bruce  won  the  day,  and  his  followers  so  spoiled 
the  lands  of  the  Comyn  that  this  fray  was  long  remembered  as  the 
"  Herrying  of  Buchan."  At  length  the  clergy  recognized  Bruce  as 
their  king,  and  this  virtual  taking  off  of  the  excommunication  had  a 
great  effect  upon  the  people.  The  little  band  of  patriots  increased 
by   degrees.     The   strongholds   were  won  back,   till   at   last   only 


STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  279 


1314 


Stirling  was  left  to  the  English,  and  it  was  so  sorely  pressed  that 
the  governor  agreed  to  give  it  up  to  the  Scots  if  he  were  not  re- 
lieved before  St.  John  Baptist's  Day,  13 14.  Roused  by  the  fear 
of  losing  this,  the  most  prized  of  all  Edward  II.'s  conquests,  the 


English  gathered  in  great  force,  and  marched   100,000  strong  to 
the  relief  of  the  garrison. 

The  Scots  were  posted  so  as  to  command  the  plain  or  carse  of 
Stirling,  which  tlie  English  must  cross  to  reach  the  castle.  They 
wQve  greatly  inferior  to  the  English  in  numbers,  and  had  scarcely 
anv  cavah-\,  \u  wliicli  the  chief  .^irensfth  of  liic  Eno'lish  force  lav. 


280  SCOTLAND 

1314 

Robert  divided  them  into  four  divisions.  Their  leaders  were  Sir 
James  Douglas;  Randolf,  his  nephew;  James  the  Steward  and 
Bruce's  own  brother  Edward;  and  Bruce  himself  commanded  the 
fourth  division.  One  flank  of  the  army  rested  on  the  Bannock,  a 
small  stream  or  burn,  from  which  the  battle  took  its  name.  Before 
the  battle  King  Robert  was  challenged  to  single  combat  by  Henry 
of  Bohun,  an  English  knight,  but  the  king  raised  the  spirit  of  his 
followers  by  cleaving  the  man's  skull.  The  English  began  the  fight 
by  a  volley  of  arrows,  but  their  archers  were  dispersed  by  the  small 
body  of  the  Scottish  horsemen  whom  King  Robert  sent  to  charge 
them.  The  English  cavalry  then  charged  the  Scots,  but  they  tried 
in  vain  to  break  the  compact  bristling  masses  of  the  Scottish  spear- 
men, and  themselves  fell  into  confusion.  When  the  English  mis- 
took some  moving  camp-followers  for  reinforcements,  they  fled, 
and  the  defeat  became  a  total  and  shameful  rout.  King  Edward 
and  500  knights  never  drew  rein  till  they  reached  Dunbar,  whence 
they  took  ship  for  Berwick.  Great  spoil  and  many  noble  captives 
fell  that  day  to  the  share  of  the  victors. 

By  this  battle,  June  24,  13 14,  won  against  tremendous  odds, 
the  Saxons  of  the  Lowlands  decided  their  own  fate  and  that  of  the 
Celtic  people  by  whose  name  they  were  called,  and  to  whose 
kingdom  they  chose  to  belong.  Three  more  centuries  were  still 
to  pass  before  Edward  I.'s  great  idea  of  a  union  could  be  carried 
out.  Bannockburn  is  noteworthy  among  battles  as  being  one  of 
the  first  to  prove  the  value  of  Wallace's  great  discovery  that  foot- 
men, when  rightly  understood  and  skillfully  handled,  were,  after 
all,  better  than  the  mounted  men-at-arms  hitherto  deemed  in- 
vincible. Like  the  fields  on  which  the  Flemings  and  the  Swiss  about 
the  same  time  overthrew  their  oppressors,  this  victor}^  of  the  Scots 
stands  forth  as  a  bright  example,  showing  how,  even  in  that  age 
of  feudal  tyranny  a  few  men  of  set  purpose,  fighting  for  their 
common  liberty,  could  withstand  a  great  mass  of  feudal  retainers 
fighting  simply  at  the  bidding  of  their  lords.  The  faithful  friends 
of  Bruce,  those  who  had  shared  his  dangers  and  helped  him  to  win 
his  crown,  were  no  way  behind  their  leader  in  courage  and  heroism. 
The  most  famous  of  them  all  was  James  of  Douglas,  son  of  that 
Douglas  who  had  been  the  friend  and  supporter  of  Wallace.  About 
them  all  have  been  told  some  wonderful  tales,  which,  true  or  not, 
show  the  spirit  of  the  times. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  seen  how  Scotland  lost  her  independ- 


STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE   281 

1286-1314 

ence  by  the  selfish  quarrels  of  her  nobles  and  the  weakness  of  her 
king  John  Balliol ;  how  the  rising  of  Wallace,  the  first  effort  for 
regaining  her  ancient  freedom,  was  confined  solely  to  the  people 
without  the  nobles ;  how  it  came  to  nothing  from  the  want  of  unity 
of  purpose  in  the  nation ;  how  Scotland,  after  the  failure  of  this 
attempt,  had  lost  her  separate  national  life  and  had  been  united  to 
England;  how,  when  all  hope  seemed  lost,  the  people  rose  under  a 
leader  who  was  really  a  Norman  baron,  and  therefore  as  much  a 
foreigner  to  them  as  any  of  the  governors  placed  over  them  by  Ed- 
ward ;  and  how  by  one  great  effort  they  shook  off  the  yoke  of  the 
invaders  and  drove  them  from  the  soil. 


Chapter    IV 

THE    INDEPENDENT   KINGDOM.     1314-1419 

THE  independence  which  Scotland  had  lost  was  won  back 
on  the  field  of  Bannockburn,  She  was  to  live  on  as  an 
independent  kingdom,  not  to  sink  into  a  mere  province 
of  England ;  but  as  the  English  refused  to  acknowledge  her  inde- 
pendence, the  war  was  carried  on  by  repeated  invasions  and  cruel 
wastings  of  the  northern  counties.  Douglas,  who  was  so  popular 
that  he  was  called  the  Good  Lord  James,  and  Randolf,  whom  Bruce 
created  Earl  of  Moray,  were  the  chief  heroes  of  these  raids.  Ed- 
ward was  attacked,  too,  in  another  quarter,  in  Ireland,  whither  at 
the  call  of  the  Celtic  chiefs  Edward  Bruce  had  gone,  like  his 
brother  Robert,  to  win  himself  a  crown  by  valor  and  popularity. 
King  Robert  himself  took  over  troops  to  help  him.  Edward  was 
crowned  King  of  Ireland,  but  he  was  killed  soon  after.  Mean- 
while the  war  on  the  border  still  went  on.  Each  side  was  strug- 
gling for  Berwick.  The  Scots  won  it  back,  and  the  English  did  all 
they  could  to  retake  it,  but  in  vain. 

While  the  siege  went  on  the  Border  counties  were  so  sorely 
harried  by  the  Scots  that  at  last  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the 
clergy  took  up  arms  in  their  defense.  But  they  were  thoroughly 
beaten,  and  this  battle  was  called  the  Chapter  of  Mitton,  from  the 
number  of  clergy  left  dead  on  the  field.  Edward  could  have  ended 
all  this  by  acknowledging  Robert  as  king,  but  he  would  not.  A 
two  years'  truce  was  made  in  13 19,  but  as  soon  as  it  was  ended 
he  once  more  invaded  Scotland  with  a  large  army.  He  found  noth- 
ing but  a  wasted  country,  for  the  Scots  had  carried  both  provisions 
and  cattle  to  the  hills,  nor  would  they  come  out  to  fight,  though 
they  liarassed  the  rear  of  the  retreating  army.  At  last  the  people 
of  the  northern  counties  of  England  grew  weary  of  the  constant 
struggle.  They  had  suffered  so  much  loss  from  the  inroads  of  the 
Scots  that  they  at  last  resolved  that,  if  the  king  would  not  make 
peace  for  them,  they  must  come  to  terms  with  the  enemy  on  their 
own  account.  Edward,  who  feared  that  he  might  thus  lose  a  part 
of  his  kingdom,  agreed  to  a  thirteen  years'  truce,  wliich  was  con- 

282 


INDEPENDENT     KINGDOM  283 

1313-1328 

eluded  in  1323.  In  this  treaty  Robert  was  allowed  to  take  his  title 
of  king,  though  the  English  would  not  give  it  to  him.  But  when  a 
few  years  later  Edward  was  deposed  and  his  son  Edward  III. 
placed  in  his  stead,  the  new  government  would  not  confirm  the  truce 
in  the  form  at  first  agreed  on.  The  Scots  upon  this  made  another 
raid  upon  England,  swept  the  country,  and  carried  off  their  spoil 
before  the  eyes  of  a  large  English  army.  The  Scots  had  in  their 
plundering  expeditions  a  great  advantage  over  the  English  in  the 
greater  simplicity  of  their  habits.  They  were  mounted  on  small 
light  horses,  which  at  night  were  turned  out  to  graze.  They  carried 
no  provisions,  except  a  small  bag  of  oatmeal,  which  each  man  bore 
at  his  saddle,  together  with  a  thin  iron  plate  on  which  he  baked  his 
meal  into  cakes.  For  the  rest  of  their  food  they  trusted  to  plunder. 
They  burned  and  destroyed  everything  as  they  passed,  and  when 
they  seized  more  cattle  than  they  could  use,  they  slew  them  and 
left  them  behind  on  the  place  where  their  camp  had  been. 

As  by  this  time  Robert's  title  had,  after  much  strife,  been 
recognized  by  the  Pope  and  other  foreign  powers,  the  English  saw 
that  they  must  acknowledge  it,  too.  Therefore,  a  treaty  was  con- 
firmed at  Northampton  in  1328  between  Robert,  King  of  Scotland, 
and  the  English  king.  The  terms  of  this  treaty  were  that  Scotland 
as  far  as  the  old  boundary  lines  should  be  perfectly  independent, 
that  the  two  kings  should  be  faithful  allies,  and  that  neither  should 
stir  up  the  troublesome  Celtic  subjects  of  the  other,  either  in  Ire- 
land or  in  the  Highlands.  As  a  further  proof  of  good  will,  Joan, 
Edward's  sister,  was  betrothed  to  Robert's  infant  son.  By  this 
treaty  the  original  commendation  of  924,  and  all  the  subsequent 
submissions  to  England,  whether  real  or  pretended,  were  done 
away  with.  It  placed  the  kingdom  on  quite  a  new  footing,  for  now 
Lothian  and  Strathclyde  were  as  independent  of  England  as  the 
real  Scotland  had  originally  been.  The  long  time  of  common 
suffering  and  common  struggles  had  done  for  the  nation  what  the 
good  time  before  it  had  failed  to  do.  It  had  knit  together  the  three 
strands  of  the  different  races  into  one  cord  of  national  unity  too 
strong  for  any  outer  influence  again  to  sever.  But  during  the  long 
war  there  had  also  arisen  lliat  intense  hatred  of  everything  English 
which  warped  the  future  growth  of  tlie  nation.  This  hatred  drove 
Scotland  to  seek  in  France  the  model  and  ally  that  she  had  hitherto 
found  in  England,  and  the  influence  of  France  can  from  this  period 
be  distinctiv  traced  in  the  laws,  the  architecture,  and  the  manners 


SCOTLAND 

1318-1329 

of  the  people.  Robert's  treaty  with  France  was  the  beginning  of 
the  future  foreign  poHcy  of  Scotland.  This  was  to  make  common 
cause  with  France  against  England,  which  country  Scotland 
pledged  herself  to  invade  whenever  France  declared  war  against  it. 

Two  of  the  meetings  of  the  Estates  or  parliaments  of  this 
reign  deserve  notice.  That  of  131 8  settled  the  succession  to  the 
Crown:  first,  on  the  direct  male  heirs  in  order  of  seniority;  next  on 
the  direct  female  heirs;  failing  both,  on  the  next  of  kin.  An  act 
was  also  passed  by  this  parliament  forbidding  all  holders  of  estates 
in  Scotland  from  taking  the  produce  or  revenues  of  these  lands  out 
of  the  kingdom.  This  law  acted  as  a  sentence  of  forfeiture  on  the 
so-called  Scottish  barons  who  had  larger  estates  in  England  than  in 
Scotland,  and  who  preferred  living  in  the  richer  country.  In  the 
parliament  of  1326,  held  at  Cambuskenneth,  the  third  Estate,  that 
is,  the  members  from  the  burghs,  was  first  recognized  as  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  National  Assembly. 

King  Robert  owed  his  crown  to  the  people  and  to  the  clergy; 
of  the  nobles  but  few  were  with  him.  His  reign  made  a  great 
change  in  the  baronage,  for  with  the  forfeited  estates  of  his  oppo- 
nents he  laid  the  foundation  of  other  families,  the  Douglases  for 
instance,  who  in  aftertimes  proved  the  dangerous  rivals  of  his  own 
descendants.  This  was  partly  owing  to  his  mistaken  policy  in 
granting  royalties  or  royal  powers  within  their  own  domains  to 
certain  of  his  own  kindred  and  supporters.  This  practice,  though 
at  the  time  it  strengthened  his  own  hands,  in  the  end  weakened  the 
power  of  the  Crown,  He  died  at  Cardross  in  1329,  leaving  one 
son.  He  was  greatly  mourned  by  the  people,  for  he  had  won  their 
sympathy  by  the  struggles  of  his  early  career,  and  had  become  their 
pride  by  his  final  victories.  They  were  justly  proud  of  having  a 
king  who  was  no  mere  puppet  in  the  hands  of  others,  fit  only  to 
wear  a  crown  and  to  spend  money,  but  a  brave,  wise  man,  who  had 
shown  himself  as  able  to  suffer  want  and  to  fight  against  ill-fortune 
as  the  best  and  bravest  among  themselves.  After  King  Robert's 
death,  Douglas,  to  fulfill  the  king's  last  wish,  set  out  with  his  heart 
for  Spain,  and  died  there  fighting  the  Moors.  Douglas  was  tall  and 
strong,  and  his  dark  skin  and  black  hair  won  him  the  nickname  of 
*'  Black  Douglas."  The  English  hated  and  feared  him,  but  his  own 
people  loved  him  well  and  remembered  him  long  after  his  death. 

David,  who  was  only  eight  years  old  when  his  father  died, 
was  crowned  at  Scone  and  anointed,  which  no  King  of  Scots  had 


INDEPENDENT     KINGDOM  285 

1329-1338 

ever  before  been,  as  this  was  considered  the  special  right  of  inde- 
pendent sovereigns  only.  The  government  was  in  the  hands  of 
Randolf,  who  had  been  appointed  regent  by  the  Estates  before  the 
death  of  the  late  king.  In  the  early  part  of  the  reign  the  country 
was  torn  by  a  struggle  whicli,  as  it  was  really  a  civil  war,  was  more 
dangerous  to  its  independence  and  more  hurtful  to  the  national 
character  than  the  long  war  with  the  English  had  been.  This  war 
was  caused  by  those  barons  who,  holding  large  estates  in  England, 
had,  by  marriage  or  by  inheritance,  become  possessed  of  lands  in 
Scotland,  which  they  lost  by  the  act  of  the  last  reign  against 
absentees.  Hitherto  the  so-called  Scottish  nobles  had  been  Norman 
barons,  with  equal  interests  in  both  kingdoms,  but  this  act  forced 
them  to  decide  for  one  or  the  other.  Hence  it  was  the  mere  chance 
of  the  respective  value  of  their  lands  that  decided  whether  such 
names  as  Percy  and  Douglas  should  be  feared  north  or  south  of 
the  border. 

These  disinherited  barons  gathered  round  Edward  Balliol,  the 
son  of  King  John,  and  determined  on  an  invasion  of  Scotland  on 
their  own  account,  giving  out  that  they  came  to  win  back  the  Crown 
for  him.  They  won  some  battles,  took  possession  of  Perth,  and 
crowned  Balliol  at  Scone,  September  24,  1332.  He  acknowledged 
himself  the  vassal  of  Edward  of  England ;  but  the  latter  did  not 
openly  take  a  part  in  the  war,  until  the  Scots,  by  their  frequent 
raids  across  the  border,  could  be  said  to  have  broken  the  Peace 
of  Northampton. 

In  the  spring  of  1333  Edward  III.  invested  Berwick,  and  the 
governor  agreed  to  give  it  up  if  it  were  not  relieved  by  the  Scots 
within  a  given  time.  The  regent,  Archibald  Douglas,  brother  to 
the  Good  Lord  James,  marched  to  raise  the  siege.  It  was  very 
much  the  case  of  Bannockburn  reversed,  for  now  the  English  had 
the  advantage  of  being  posted  on  Halidon  Hill,  close  by  the  town, 
while  the  Scots,  the  assailants,  had  to  struggle  through  a  marsh. 
The  English  archers  won  the  day;  the  regent  was  killed;  Berwick 
was  forced  to  yield ;  and  Balliol  gave  it  over  to  the  English,  and 
placed  all  the  strongholds  S(juth  of  the  Forth  in  their  hands.  For 
three  years  longer  there  was  much  fighting  on  the  border  with 
pretty  equal  success,  until  the  French  wars  drew  the  attention  of 
Edward  III.  from  Scotland,  and  then  the  national  party  began  to 
get  the  upper  hand.  When  Robert  the  High  Steward  became 
regent  in  1338  he  won  back  'he  strongholds.     Soon  after  Balliol 


286  SCOTLAND 

1333-1385 

left  the  kingdom,  and  in  1341  David  and  his  queen  Joan  of  Eng- 
land came  home  from  France,  where  he  had  been  sent  to  be  out  of 
the  way  of  the  troubles.  Five  years  of  comparative  peace  followed. 
A  succession  of  truces  were  made  with  England,  but  they  were  not 
strictly  kept  on  the  border. 

While  Edward  was  busy  with  the  siege  of  Calais,  David,  to 
keep  up  the  spirit  of  the  alliance  with  France,  broke  the  truce 
between  England  and  Scotland  by  invading  England.  He  was 
defeated  and  captured  by  the  Archbishop  of  York  at  the  head  of 
the  force  of  the  northern  counties  in  1346.  For  eleven  years  David 
remained  a  captive,  and  Scotland  was  governed  by  the  former 
regent,  the  Steward.  During  that  time  Berwick  was  won  and 
lost  again.  Edward,  to  whom  Balliol  had  handed  over  his  claim 
to  the  kingdom  for  a  pension  of  two  thousand  pounds,  brought  an 
English  army  as  far  as  the  Forth.  As  they  could  neither  find  pro- 
visions to  sustain  them  nor  an  enemy  to  fight  with,  they  were 
forced  to  return,  but  they  had  left  such  traces  of  their  progress  on 
churches  and  dwelling-houses  that  their  inroad  was  remembered  as 
the  "  burnt  Candlemas."  In  1347  David  was  released,  the  ransom 
being  fixed  at  100,000  marks.  He  made  many  after-visits  to  Eng- 
land, and  proposed  to  the  Estates  that  Lionel,  the  second  son  of 
Edward,  should  succeed  him,  but  to  this  they  would  not  agree.  He 
died  in  1370,  and  left  no  children. 

David  was  succeeded  by  his  sister's  son,  Robert,  the  Steward 
of  the  kingdom.  The  office  was  hereditary,  and  the  title  gradually 
passed  into  the  surname  of  the  family  who  held  it  and  became 
common  to  the  different  branches.  Robert  was  allowed  to  mount 
the  throne  unopposed.  It  had  been  feared  that  William,  Lord 
Douglas  would  have  disputed  his  right  to  the  throne,  but  he  did 
not.  Robert  was  twice  married,  but  the  first  marriage  was  disputed, 
although  dispensations  for  each  have  since  been  discovered,  which 
decide  the  right  of  Robert's  first  family. 

At  the  end  of  the  truce  with  England,  in  1385,  war  broke  out 
again.  Tlie  French  sent  a  body  of  2000  men,  1000  stands  of 
armor,  and  50,000  gold  pieces  to  the  aid  of  their  allies  the  Scots. 
Richard  II.  of  England,  with  an  army  of  70,000  men,  invaded 
Scotland,  and  marched  as  far  north  as  the  Forth.  There  was  more 
harrying  and  burning,  and  but  little  real  fighting.  But  the  French- 
men despised  the  poverty  of  the  Scots,  and  were  disgusted  with 
their  way  of  fighting ;  and  as  the  Scots  in  return  were  uncivil  and  in- 


INDEPENDENT     KINGDOM  2»7 

1385-1400 

hospitable  to  them,  they  went  away  before  long,  and  were  as  glad 
to  get  back  to  their  own  land  as  the  Scots  were  to  get  rid  of  them. 

A  few  years  later  the  Scottish  barons  made  another  raid  on  the 
north  of  England.  An  army  5000  strong  mustered  at  Jedburgh. 
The  Scots  made  the  raid  and  on  the  way  back  were  met  by  the 
Percies.  They  won  the  day,  but  the  victory  was  dearly  bought, 
for  Douglas  was  slain  in  the  fight.  This  battle,  in  which  many  lives 
were  lost  without  any  real  cause,  and  without  doing  any  good 
whatever,  was  reckoned  one  of  the  best  fought  battles  of  that 
warlike  time.  It  was  all  hand-to-hand  fighting,  and  all  the  knights 
engaged  in  it  on  both  sides  showed  great  valor.  Their  feats  of 
arms  have  been  commemorated  in  the  spirit-stirring  ballad  of  Chevy 
Chase.  The  Scots  came  back  to  their  own  land,  bringing  with 
them  Sir  Henry  Percy,  surnamed  Hotspur,  and  more  than  forty 
English  knights  whom  they  had  taken  prisoners.  This  fight,  which 
was  called  the  Raid  of  Otterbum,  took  place  in  August,  1388. 

Robert  died  in  1390.  He  left  the  country  at  peace;  for  a 
truce  between  England  and  France,  taking  in  Scotland  as  an  ally 
of  the  latter,  had  been  made  the  year  before. 

The  eldest  son  of  the  late  king  was  John,  but  as  Balliol  had 
made  this  name  odious  to  the  people,  he  changed  it  at  his  corona- 
tion to  Robert.  The  country  was  in  a  miserable  state.  The  nobles 
had  been  so  long  used  to  war  with  England  that  they  could  not 
bear  to  be  at  peace.  They  fought  with  one  another,  and  preyed 
on  the  peasants  and  burghers.  As  the  king  was  too  weak  both  in 
mind  and  body  to  restrain  them,  the  Estates  placed  the  sovereign 
power  in  the  hands  of  his  son  David,  who  was  created  Duke  of 
Rothesay.  This  is  the  first  time  the  title  of  duke  appears  in  Scot- 
tish history.  Rothesay  was  to  act  as  the  king's  lieutenant  for  three 
years,  with  the  advice  of  a  council  chosen  by  the  Estates.  Mean- 
while the  real  rulers  were  the  king's  two  brothers,  Robert,  Duke  of 
Albany,  and  Alexander,  Earl  of  Buchan.  Albany,  anxious,  as  he 
gave  out,  to  restrain  the  wild  follies  of  his  nephew  Rothesay,  seized 
him  and  confined  him  in  Falkland  Castle.  There  he  died,  and  his 
uncle  was  accused  by  the  people  of  starving  him  to  death.  Of  this 
charge  Albany  was  afterward  acquitted  by  act  of  the  Estates. 

During  this  reign  there  was  a  deadly  combat  between  two 
bands  of  Highlanders  on  a  meadow  by  the  Tay,  called  the  North 
Inch  of  Perth.  The  king  and  his  nobles  and  a  vast  crowd  of  persons 
of  all  ranks  gathered  to  see  them  fight.     This  was  a  famous  con- 


288  SCOTLAND 

1400-1411 

test,  but,  like  Otterbum,  this  slaughter  simply  showed  the  skill  of 
the  combatants  in  killing  one  another.  The  name  of  the  clans  en- 
gaged, and  their  cause  of  quarrel,  if  they  had  any,  have  been  alike 
forgotten. 

In  1400,  soon  after  the  end  of  the  truce,  Henry  IV.,  who  by 
a  revolution  had  been  placed  on  his  cousin  Richard's  throne, 
revived  the  old  claim  over  Scotland  in  order  to  make  himself  popu- 
lar with  the  English.  He  announced  his  intention  of  coming  to 
Edinburgh  to  receive  the  homage  of  the  king  and  of  the  nobles, 
and  to  enforce  his  demand  he  marched  as  far  as  Leith  at  the  head  of 
an  army.  This  was  the  most  harmless  invasion  on  record,  for,  as 
usual,  the  Scots  had  got  out  of  the  way,  and  the  English  had  to 
retreat  without  finding  an  enemy  to  fight  with.  The  Earl  of 
March  for  a  while  joined  the  English  against  the  Scots.  He 
afterward  joined  the  Percies  in  their  rebellion  against  Henry  and 
fought  with  them  at  Shrewsbury.  The  regent  Albany  had  an 
army  on  the  border  ready  to  help  the  rebels,  but  their  defeat  and 
dispersion  brought  his  plan  to  nothing.  But  Albany  hit  on  another 
way  of  threatening  Henry.  He  entertained  at  the  Scottish  court  a 
supposititious  Richard.  But  about  the  same  time  Henry  captured 
James,  Earl  of  Carrick,  second  son  of  the  king  and  heir  to  the 
throne.  Thus,  as  the  head  of  each  government  had  a  hostage  for 
the  good  behavior  of  the  other,  there  was  no  open  war  between  the 
two  nations.      In  1406  Robert  died. 

The  death  of  Robert  made  no  change  in  the  government, 
though  the  young  king  was  acknowledged  as  James  I.  There  was 
nominal  peace  with  England,  but  the  work  of  winning  back  the 
border  strongholds  still  went  on.  Jedburgh  was  retaken  and  de- 
stroyed, as  the  best  means  of  securing  it  against  foreign  occupation 
in  future. 

The  kingdom  was  now  threatened  on  the  other  border,  the 
northern  march  which  parted  the  Saxons  of  the  northeastern  Low- 
lands from  the  Celtic  clans  of  the  mountains.  The  hatred  between 
the  hostile  races  had  been  growing  more  and  more  bitter,  and  was 
fostered  by  constant  inroads  on  the  one  hand  and  cruel  laws  upon 
the  other.  The  time  seemed  now  to  have  come  when  there  must  be 
a  trial  of  strength  between  them.  The  head  of  the  Celts  was 
Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  who  now  claimed  sovereign  power  o\cr 
all  the  clans  of  the  West  and  acted  as  an  independent  monarch. 
He  was  indeed  lord  over  half  the  kingdom,  and  he  resolved  tsf 


INDEPENDENT     KINGDOM  289 

1411-1419 

invade  the  territory  of  the  king.  The  district  nearest  him  was  at 
this  time  at  once  the  richest  part  of  the  kingdom  and  the  part  least 
accustomed  to  self-defense.  In  the  invasion  of  their  territory  they 
took  up  arms  and  found  a  leader  of  experience.  This  was  Alexan- 
der Stewart,  or  Stuart,  as  it  is  generally  spelled,  Earl  of  Mar. 
He  had  won  his  reputation  by  valor  in  the  French  wars,  and  his 
earldom  by  carrying  off  and  marrying  an  heiress.  The  rival  races 
met  at  Harlaw,  in  Aberdeenshire,  July  24,  141 1.  Here,  as  at  Ban- 
nockburn,  the  determination  and  steadfastness  of  each  man  in  the 
smaller  force  decided  the  fortune  of  the  day.  For,  though  the 
Highlanders,  reckless  of  life,  charged  again  and  again,  they  made 
no  impression  on  the  small  compact  mass  that  kept  the  way  against 
them,  and  they  were  at  last  forced  to  retreat.  This  battle  was  justly 
looked  on  as  a  great  national  deliverance,  greater  even  than  the  vic- 
tory at  Bannockburn,  and  many  privileges  and  immunities  were 
granted  to  the  heirs  of  those  who  had  fallen. 

During  the  regency  the  Scots  did  good  service  to  their  old 
allies  of  France,  who  were  sorely  pressed  by  the  English.  Henry 
V.  of  England  had  conquered  nearly  all  France,  and  had  been  pro- 
claimed heir  of  the  French  king.  A  company  of  700  Scots  went  to 
the  help  of  the  French.  They  arrived  safely  in  France,  in  spite  of 
the  careful  watch  upon  the  seas  kept  up  by  the  English  in  order  to 
prevent  them.  By  their  aid  the  French  gained  their  first  victory  in 
this  war.  The  help  of  Douglas  was  then  sought  by  the  King  of 
France.  An  alliance  was  made  between  them  in  1423,  and  Douglas 
came  to  France,  where  the  rich  Duchy  of  Touraine  and  many  other 
lands  were  conferred  upon  him.  But  Douglas  was  slain  not  long 
after  at  the  battle  of  Verneuil  in  1424.  Most  of  the  Scots  fell  with 
him,  for  the  English  refused  them  quarter,  considering  all  Scots 
bearing  arms  on  the  French  side  as  traitors.  The  remnant  were 
formed  into  a  royal  bodyguard,  the  beginning  of  the  famous  Scot- 
tish Guard  of  tlie  French  kings. 

Albany  died  in  14 19,  and  anarchy  followed.  Every  man 
was  his  own  master,  and  the  land  was  filled  with  violence.  The 
obvious  remedy  was  to  bring  home  the  king,  and  Douglas  and 
some  of  the  other  nobles  treated  with  the  English  Government  for 
his  release. 

Under  the  immediate  successors  of  Robert  I.,  Scotland  nearly 
lost  all  the  advantages  which  he  had  won  for  her.  The  country 
was  torn  by  civil  strife;  the  kings  were  weak  and  useless;  the  nobles 


290  SCOTLAND 

1419-1424 

became  so  strong"  and  overbearing  that  their  power  more  than 
equaled  that  of  the  Crown,  and  they  set  at  nought  the  king's  au- 
thority. All  social  improvement  was  at  a  standstill.  Still  we  find 
during  this  period  the  first  stirrings  of  a  desire  for  increase  of 
knowledge  and  greater  liberty  of  religious  thought.  Two  events 
mark  this :  the  burning  of  John  Reseby,  with  his  books,  on  a  charge 
of  heresy,  at  Perth  in  1408,  and  the  opening  of  the  first  university 
in  Scotland,  founded  at  St.  Andrews  by  Henry  Wardlaw,  the 
bishop,  in  14 10.  The  history  of  Scotland  was  now  first  written 
by  two  natives  of  the  country,  John  of  Fordun,  who  wrote  the 
"  Scotichronicon"  and  Andrew  Wyntoun,  who  wrote  a  metrical 
chronicle. 


Chapter   V 

THE  JAMESES.    1424-1557 

IN  1424  James  came  home  and  brought  with  him  his  English 
wife,  Joan,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Somerset.  As  he  had  been 
taken  in  time  of  peace,  a  ransom  could  not  reasonably  be  de- 
manded, but  the  Scots  were  required  to  pay  forty  thousand  pounds 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  eighteen  years'  maintenance  and  edu- 
cation. The  king,  now  at  last  restored  to  his  kingdom,  let  eight 
months  pass  quietly  before  taking  vengeance  on  those  who  had  so 
long  kept  him  out  of  it.  He  spent  this  time  in  winning  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people  and  of  the  lesser  barons.  He  then  seized 
Albany,  his  two  sons,  and  twenty-six  other  nobles  at  Perth,  whither 
they  had  come  to  attend  the  Parliament.  Albany  and  his  two  sons 
were  tried  before  a  jury  of  twenty-one  peers,  many  of  whom  sat 
only  to  secure  their  own  safety.  They  were  found  guilty  of  trea- 
son and  put  to  death  at  Stirling.  James  himself  presided  at  the 
trial,  thereby  reviving  the  ancient  practice  of  the  king's  personal 
administration  of  justice. 

When  James  had  thus  got  rid  of  his  dangerous  cousins  he 
turned  his  attention  to  the  Highlands  and  Western  Isles,  which 
presented  a  strange  mixture  of  Celtic  and  of  feudal  manners.  They 
were  ruled  partly  by  Norman  barons  and  partly  by  native  chiefs, 
and  these  barons  or  chiefs  were  both  alike  upheld  by  that  personal 
devotion  of  their  vassals  which  was  the  strong  point  of  Celtic  clan- 
ship. James  summoned  the  chiefs  to  a  parliament  at  Inverness  in 
1427.  They  obeyed  the  summons,  and  were  at  once  seized  and 
imprisoned.  Three  of  them  were  hanged  at  that  time.  Several 
others  shared  the  same  fate  at  a  later  date.  Others  were  impris- 
oned, and  a  small  remnant  only  allowed  to  go  away  unhurt.  Alex- 
ander, Lord  of  the  Isles,  was  among  these  last,  and  the  first  use  he 
made  of  his  recovered  liberty  was  to  bring  his  islemen  down  on 
Inverness,  which  they  destroyed.  James  hurried  northward  again 
and  defeated  him  in  Lochaber.  Alexander  gave  himself  up  to  the 
king's  grace,   and   was   confined   in   Tantallon   Castle.       But   his 

291 


292  SCOTLAND 

1427-1436 

kinsman,  Donald  Balloch,  set  himself  at  the  head  of  the  clans  and 
they  defeated  the  royal  army.  James  determined  to  crush  the  Celts 
once  and  forever.  An  additional  tax  was  levied  for  the  purpose, 
and  James  set  out  once  more  for  the  North;  but  the  chiefs,  who 
saw  that  the  king  was  just  then  too  strong  for  them,  met  him  with 
proffers  of  homage  and  submission.  Such  submissions  were,  how- 
ever, practically  worthless.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Celts  they  were  just 
as  little  binding  as  the  parchment  title-deeds  by  w^hich  the  govern- 
ment sought  to  change  their  chiefs  into  feudal  barons. 

The  policy  of  James  was  to  reduce  the  power  of  the  baronage, 
and  to  balance  it  by  strengthening  the  clergy  and  encouraging  the 
commons.  He  made  strict  search  into  the  titles  by  which  the 
several  nobles  held  their  lands,  and  more  especially  into  the  actual 
state  of  the  estates  which  had  been  held  by  the  Crown  in  the  time  of 
Robert  I.  He  deprived  the  Earl  of  March  of  his  earldom,  on  the 
ground  that  Albany,  who  had  restored  it  to  him,  had  not  the 
power  to  confer  upon  him  the  estates  which  he  had  once  forfeited 
by  the  transfer  of  his  allegiance  to  England.  James  also  took  from 
Malise  Grahame  his  earldom  of  Strathearn,  which  he  had  inherited 
through  his  mother,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  male  fief.  These 
measures  roused  the  dislike  and  distrust  of  the  class  they  were 
aimed  at,  and  a  conspiracy  was  formed  against  the  king.  At  its 
head  was  Sir  Robert  Grahame,  uncle  of  Malise,  who  had  been 
banished  for  denouncing  the  king's  doings  in  parliament,  and 
James  was  treacherously  murdered,  1436.  James  left  one  son  and 
five  daughters.  Margaret,  the  eldest,  was  married  to  the  Dauphin, 
afterward  Louis  XL,  of  France. 

James  held  many  parliaments,  and  pretty  nearly  all  are  note- 
worthy for  passing  wise  measures  for  the  common  good.  In  his 
first  parliament,  the  Committee  of  the  Articles,  which  dated  from 
the  reign  of  David  H.,  was  acknowledged  as  an  established  part 
of  the  parliament.  This  committee  w^as  elected  by  the  parlia- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  its  session,  and  nearly  the  whole  power 
of  the  Estates  was  made  over  to  the  persons  chosen  to  form  it,  who 
were  called  the  Lords  of  the  Articles.  They  consulted  together  and 
considered  the  Articles  presented  to  them  in  parliament,  which 
were  then  passed  by  the  vote  of  the  Estates  and  became  law.  This 
custom,  by  which  the  business  of  the  whole  parliament  was  left  in 
the  hands  of  a  committee,  was  afterward  found  to  be  the  weakest 
point  of  the  legislature,  and  paved  the  way  for  a  great  deal  of 


T  H  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  293 

1436-1437 

bribery  and  corruption.  Statute  law  in  Scotland  dates  from  this 
reign,  as  it  was  James  who  first  caused  a  collection  of  statutes  to 
be  made,  and  separated  those  that  were  still  in  force  from  those 
that  had  fallen  out  of  use.  He  also  regulated  weights  and  meas- 
ures, and  fixed  a  standard  for  the  coinage,  so  that  it  should  be  of  the 
same  weight  and  fineness  as  the  money  in  England.  From  his 
reign  also  dates  the  appointment  of  the  office  of  Treasurer;  the 
publication  of  the  acts  of  parliament  in  the  language  spoken  by  the 
people ;  the  first  effort  toward  the  representation  of  the  lesser  barons 
by  commissaries;  and  an  attempt  to  establish  a  supreme  court  of 
civil  jurisdiction,  which  was  to  consist  of  the  Chancellor  and  three 
other  persons  chosen  by  the  Estates,  and  to  sit  three  times  a  year. 
In  order  that  the  Scottish  people  might  learn  to  compete  with  the 
English  bowmen,  James  established  schools  in  the  different  parishes 
for  the  practice  of  archery.  In  short,  he  strove  in  every  way  to 
make  his  people  profit  by  what  he  had  learned  and  observed  during 
his  long  exile  in  England.  He  was  a  patron  of  learning,  and  was 
himself  a  scholar  and  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  English  poets. 
The  longest  of  his  poems  is  called  the  "  King's  Ouhair,"  or  book. 
In  it  he  sang  his  love  for  his  fair  English  bride  in  strains  that 
prove  him  to  have  been  a  true  poet.  It  is  written  in  stanzas  of 
seven  lines  each,  a  very  favorite  measure  in  those  days,  which  was 
afterward  called  the  "  roial  rime  "  in  memory  of  this  poet-king. 

The  young  king,  James  II.,  who  was  only  six  years  old  when 
his  father  was  killed,  was  crowned  at  Holyrood,  as  Scone,  the  cus- 
tomary crowning-place,  was  too  near  the  Highlands,  where  the  con- 
spirators had  taken  refuge,  to  be  safe.  Pie  was  then  taken  by  his 
mother  for  greater  security  to  Edinburgh  Castle.  The  object  of 
the  murderers  was  to  place  on  the  throne  tlie  Earl  of  Athole.  If 
this  were  their  design,  it  was  not  seconded  by  the  people,  who  were 
filled  with  sorrow  and  anger  at  the  death  of  the  king,  who  had  made 
himself  popular  by  all  the  good  he  had  done  for  them.  A  hue- 
and-cry  was  raised  after  the  murderers,  who  were  taken  and  put  to 
death  with  cruel  tortures. 

The  first  part  of  the  reign  was  a  struggle  for  the  wardship  of 
the  king's  person,  which  gave  nearly  royal  power  to  whoever  held 
it.  The  rivals  for  this  honor  were  William  Crichton,  tlie  Chan- 
cellor and  governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle;  Alexander  Livingstone, 
the  governor  of  Stirling,  the  other  great  stronghold;  and  the  {jucen- 
mother.      The  (juecn,  v.lio  feared  ihvA  Crichton  would  try  to  sep- 


294  SCOTLAND 

1437-1441 

arate  the  young  king  from  her  if  she  stayed  in  Edinburgh,  suc- 
seeded  in  getting  herself  and  her  child  out  of  his  hands  by  a 
stealthy  flight  to  Stirling.  But  she  soon  found  that  they  had  only 
changed  jailers,  for  Livingstone  kept  as  strict  a  guard  over  the  king 
as  Crichton  had  done.  A  few  years  later  she  married  Stuart, 
Lord  of  Lorn,  after  which  she  took  no  further  part  in  public  affairs. 
Her  flight  to  Stirling  gave  Livingstone  for  a  time  the  advantage  in 
the  possession  of  the  king,  till  Crichton  contrived  to  kidnap  him 
back  to  Edinburgh.  But  as  the  rivals  found  that  it  would  be  more 
for  the  interest  of  each  to  act  in  concert  with  the  other,  they  made 
an  agreement  by  which  James  was  sent  back  to  the  custody  of 
Livingstone. 

Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas,  was  at  this  time  the  most  power- 
ful baron  in  Scotland.  Besides  holding  Galloway,  Annandale,  and 
other  great  estates  in  Scotland,  he  had  inherited  the  Duchy  of 
Touraine,  which  had  been  conferred  on  his  father  by  the  King  of 
France  for  good  service  done  against  the  English,  and  in  his  for- 
eign duchy  he  possessed  wealth  and  splendor  beyond  anything  that 
the  Scottish  king  could  boast.  The  family  still  had  a  hold  on  the 
popular  favor  won  for  them  by  the  Good  Lord  James.  They  had 
also  some  pretensions  to  the  Crown  of  Scotland,  for  they  repre- 
sented the  claim  of  the  Comyns,  and  were  also  descendants  of 
Robert  IL  Douglas  had  been  chosen  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
kingdom,  and  had  ample  power  to  quiet  the  rival  parties  had  he 
chosen  to  exercise  it.  But  he  did  not,  and  his  nominal  government 
was  ended  by  his  death  in  1439.  William,  his  son,  who  at  seven- 
teen succeeded  to  all  this  pride  and  power,  kept  up  a  state  and 
retinue  almost  royal,  and  much  violence  and  oppression  were  laid 
to  his  charge.  Crichton  and  Livingstone  agreed  to  compass  his 
downfall,  and  for  this  end  they  invited  him  and  his  brother  David 
to  visit  the  king  at  Edinburgh.  They  came,  were  seized,  and,  after 
the  form  of  a  trial,  were  beheaded  in  the  castle-yard.  The  power 
of  their  house  was  thus  broken  for  a  time.  The  estates  were 
divided ;  part  went  with  the  title  to  their  granduncle  James,  the 
male  heir,  while  Galloway  went  to  their  sister  Margaret.  But  on 
the  death  of  James  they  were  reunited,  for  his  son  William  married 
^largaret  of  Galloway,  his  cousin.  He  then  went  to  court,  to  do 
his  duty,  as  he  said,  to  his  sovereign,  pretended  that  the  king  had 
chosen  him  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  and  got  most  of  the 
power  into  his  own  hands.      He  and  Livingstone  joined,  and  tried 


T  H  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  295 

1441-1454 

to  make  Crichton  give  up  the  seals  by  besieging  him  in  Edinburgh 
Castle ;  but  he  held  out  so  well  that  they  were  forced  to  make  terms 
with  him.  Douglas  grew  more  proud  and  powerful  every  year. 
He  was  already  lord  of  nearly  all  the  southern  country,  and  he 
joined  in  a  bond  with  the  great  chiefs  of  the  North, — the  Lord 
of  the  Isles,  who  was  now  Earl  of  Ross,  and  Alexander,  Earl  of 
Crawford,  the  head  of  the  house  of  Lindsay  and  representative  of 
the  fallen  Earls  of  March.  He  held  meetings  of  his  vassals,  to 
which  he  summoned  all  those  who  either  were  or,  as  he  thought, 
ought  to  be  his  dependants.  Nor  did  he  scruple  to  put  to  death 
any  who  opposed  him,  in  direct  defiance  of  the  king's  commands. 
But  as  the  earl's  retainers  numbered  5000,  while  the  king  had  not 
so  much  as  a  bodyguard,  his  commands  were  not  easily  enforced. 

The  king's  majority  was  soon  followed  by  the  ruin  of  Living- 
stone. Douglas  was  too  strong  to  be  openly  attacked.  He  was 
invited  to  Stirling  and  received  in  a  friendly  way.  James  remon- 
strated with  him  about  the  bonds,  and  urged  him  to  break  them 
off.  Douglas  refused,  whereupon  he  was  stabbed  by  James  and 
killed  by  a  follower.  Civil  war  succeeded,  and  James  Douglas 
openly  defied  the  king  as  a  traitor  and  a  perjured  man.  His 
cause  was  taken  up  by  the  parties  to  the  bond,  the  Earls  of 
Ross  and  Crawford.  The  king,  who  felt  himself  too  weak  to 
break  the  confederacy,  was  forced  to  turn  to  his  own  advantage 
the  enmity  among  his  nobles,  and  to  pull  down  one  house  by 
building  up  another.  This  policy  only  changed  the  name  of  the 
rivals  of  the  Crown,  without  getting  rid  of  them,  and  it  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  like  troubles  in  future  reigns.  In  the  North 
James  intrusted  the  conduct  of  the  war  to  the  head  of  the  house  of 
Gordon,  whom  he  created  Earl  of  Huntly,  and  whose  lands  lay 
between  those  of  the  banded  earls.  In  the  South  the  Earl  of 
Angus,  the  head  of  the  Red  Douglases  as  they  were  called,  was 
made  use  of  to  overthrow  the  Black  Douglases,  the  elder  branch 
of  the  family.  The  question  whether  James  Stuart  or  James 
Douglas  should  wear  the  crown  was  settled  by  a  battle  at  Arkinholm, 
in  Eskdale,  in  1454.  Douglas  was  forsaken  by  many  of  his  fol- 
lowers, and  was  defeated  and  fled  to  England.  An  act  of  forfeiture 
was  passed  against  him  and  all  his  house,  and,  to  prevent  any  one 
family  again  becoming  so  formidable,  another  act  was  passed, 
which  made  Galloway  and  certain  other  lordships  and  castles  in- 
alienable from  the  Crown.      But   in  spite  of  this  the  greater  part  of 


296  SCOTLAND 

1454-1469 

the  lands  of  the  fallen  Douglas  went  to  his  kinsman  Angus.  Many 
other  families  also,  among  them  the  Hamiltons,  rose  from  the  ruins 
of  the  Black  Douglases.  Sir  James  Hamilton,  the  head  of  the 
house,  had  been  one  of  the  adherents  of  the  earl,  but  he  deserted  to 
the  royal  side  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Arkinholm. 

As  the  strife  which  was  at  this  time  going  on  between  the 
Yorkists  and  Lancastrians  kept  the  English  busy  at  home,  there 
was  comparative  peace  on  the  border,  broken  only  by  an  inroad 
from  Percy  and  the  banished  Douglas.  James  took  the  part  of 
Henry  VI.,  and  raised  a  large  army  with  the  intention  of  invading 
England  in  his  favor.  But  there  was  no  serious  war,  and  James 
saw  that  there  was  now  a  good  chance  of  winning  back  the  towns 
which  the  English  still  held  in  Scotland.  He  therefore  laid  siege 
to  Roxburgh,  and  was  killed  there  by  the  bursting  of  a  large  cannon 
which  he  was  watching  with  great  interest.  After  his  death  the 
queen  urged  on  the  siege,  and  Roxburgh  was  taken  and  destroyed. 
This  siege  is  noteworthy  as  being  among  the  first  in  which  we  hear 
of  the  use  of  artillery  in  Scotland.  Another  notable  feature  of  it 
was  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  with  an  auxiliary  force, 
for  which  service  he  was  made  one  of  the  wardens  of  the  border. 
The  second  university  in  Scotland  was  founded  in  this  reign  at 
Glasgow  by  Bishop  Turnbull. 

During  the  first  part  of  the  reign  of  James  III.,  1460- 1488, 
there  was  a  struggle  over  the  guardianship  of  the  king,  which  finally 
came  into  the  hands  of  the  Boyds,  the  son  of  his  guardian  being 
created  Earl  of  Arran,  and  with  the  earldom  the  king's  sister  was 
given  him  in  marriage. 

For  many  years  the  rent  of  the  Western  Isles  had  not  been 
paid  to  the  King  of  Norway.  There  were  heavy  arrears  due  to 
him  which  had  been  demanded  in  the  last  reign.  It  was  now  agreed 
to  settle  the  matter  peaceably  by  the  marriage  of  James  with  Mar- 
garet, daughter  of  Christian  of  Norway,  in  1469.  Her  dowry  vras 
the  claim  for  the  arrears  and  60,000  florins,  in  security  for  which 
the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Isles  were  placed  as  pledges  in  the  hands 
of  the  King  of  Scotland.  These  islands  have  never  been  redeemed 
by  payment  of  the  sum  agreed  on.  Arran  had  been  chiefly  con- 
cerned in  bringing  about  this  marriage,  but  during  his  absence  at 
the  court  of  Christian  his  enemies  were  busy  in  compassing  his  fall, 
and  the  result  was  the  confiscation  of  his  estates  to  the  Crown. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  reign   Edward  IV.  kept  up  a  seeming 


T  K  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  297 

1469-1482 

show  of  friendliness,  but  he  was  secretly  treating  with  Douglas  and 
the  Lord  of  the  Isles  to  the  effect  that  they  should  hold  the  two 
parts  of  Scotland  as  principalities  dependent  on  England.  The 
consequent  raids  of  John  caused  him  to  be  called  to  account,  and 
he  had  to  give  up  much  of  his  domain.  In  exchange  for  his  proud 
but  doubtful  title  of  Lord  of  the  Isles  he  was  made  a  peer  of  parlia- 
ment. In  1474  a  marriage  was  arranged  between  Edward's 
daughter  Cecily  and  James  the  Prince  of  Scotland.  It  was  broken 
off  owing  to  a  quarrel  between  the  king  and  his  brothers.  One 
was  found  dead  under  suspicion  of  poison,  and  the  other,  Albany, 
escaped  from  Scotland.  He  made  an  agreement  with  Edward, 
who  was  to  place  him  on  the  throne  of  Scotland,  and  to  give  him 
the  Lady  Cecily  in  marriage.  After  divers  threatening  messages 
had  been  exchanged  between  the  two  governments,  and  many 
threatenings  of  attack  had  been  made,  a  great  Scottish  army  was 
mustered  to  invade  England  in  good  earnest. 

The  king  had  always  been  unpopular  with  his  nobles.  His 
love  of  money  and  of  peaceable  pursuits  found  little  sympathy  with 
them,  and  they  could  neither  understand  nor  tolerate  his  fancy  for 
making  favorites  of  men  whom  they  despised.  The  time  had  now 
come  when  they  could  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands.  The 
army  raised  for  the  invasion  of  England  was  led  by  the  king  in 
person,  and  advanced  as  far  as  Lauder  in  Berwickshire.  There  the 
nobles  met  together,  with  old  Angus  at  their  head,  to  devise  some 
way  of  getting  rid  of  the  most  hated  of  these  favorites,  Robert 
Cochrane,  a  mason  or  architect,  to  whom  the  king  had  given  the 
control  of  the  artillery  in  this  expedition.  He  had  also  conferred 
on  him  the  revenues  of  the  earldom  of  ]\Iar,  and  Cochrane,  going  a 
step  further,  had  assumed  the  title.  While  they  were  deliberating, 
the  Lord  Gray,  so  the  story  goes,  quoted  the  old  fable  of  the  mice 
and  the  cat,  meaning  thereby  that  all  their  talk  would  come  to  noth- 
ing unless  one  of  their  number  was  bold  enough  to  attack  their 
enemy.  On  this  Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus,  cried  out,  "  Heed  not, 
I'll  bell  the  cat."  This  saying  won  him  the  nickname  of  "  Bell  the 
Cat."  While  they  thus  sat  in  council  in  the  church,  Cochrane 
himself  knocked  at  the  door  and  demanded  admittance  in  the  name 
of  the  king.  The  finery  which  he  wore  still  further  heated  the 
wrath  of  the  lords.  They  seized  him  and  with  many  insults  ac- 
cused him  of  misguiding  the  king  and  the  government.  IMean- 
while  they  had  sent  a  band  of  armed  men  to  the  king's  tent  to  secure 


298  SCOTLAND 

1482-1488 

the  Other  favorites.  They  then  hanged  them  all  over  Lauder 
Bridge.  Only  one  of  the  favorites  was  spared  to  the  entreaties  of 
the  king.  The  triumphant  barons  then  brought  the  king  back  to 
Edinburgh,  1482.  Soon  after  this  Albany  came  back,  and  for  a 
short  time  they  lived  together  seemingly  on  good  terms,  while 
Albany  really  ruled.  But  before  long  he  found  it  most  prudent  to 
return  to  England,  and  he  showed  his  real  designs  by  putting  Dun- 
bar Castle  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

The  king,  who  had  not  learned  wisdom  by  the  lesson  of 
Lauder  Bridge,  grew  more  and  more  unpopular.  A  confederacy 
was  formed  and  a  large  army  was  raised  by  the  lords  south  of  the 
Forth.  To  give  a  show  of  justice  to  their  doings,  they  placed 
James  the  Prince  of  Scotland  at  their  head,  professing  to  have 
deposed  his  father  and  to  have  accepted  him  as  their  lawful  king. 
North  of  the  Scots  Water  the  country  was  true  to  James,  and 
there  he  collected  a  considerable  force.  The  two  armies  met  at 
Sauchieburn.  The  king,  who  was  not  brave,  turned  and  fled  at 
the  first  sign  that  the  day  was  going  against  him.  In  his  flight  he 
was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  carried  to  a  mill  built  on  the  Ban- 
nockburn,  where  he  was  murdered  by  an  unknown  hand,  1488. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  after  the  affair  of  Sauchieburn  was 
to  find  out  what  had  become  of  the  king,  and,  when  his  death  was 
made  sure  of,  an  inquiry  was  set  on  foot  as  to  the  cause  of  it.  James 
IV.  was  crowned  and  the  offices  of  state  were  transferred  to  the 
party  in  power,  and  an  act  of  amnesty  was  passed,  to  take  in  all 
persons  who  had  taken  part  with  the  late  king  in  the  struggle  which 
the  nobles  pleased  to  call  the  late  rebellion.  Two  ineffectual  risings 
to  avenge  the  murder  of  the  king  were  made  by  the  Lords  Lennox 
and  Forbes,  and  three  years  later,  to  pacify  the  clamors  of  the  people, 
a  reward  of  one  hundred  marks  was  offered  for  the  discovery  of 
the  actual  murderers. 

Just  at  this  time  Henry  VII.  of  England  had  his  hands  too 
busy  at  home  to  allow  of  his  making  open  war  upon  Scotland,  but 
he  carried  on  secret  schemes  with  Angus,  Ramsay,  and  others  for 
the  capture  of  the  king,  James,  on  the  other  hand,  upheld  that 
Perkin  Warbeck  was  really  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  received  him 
at  his  court  as  the  son  of  King  Edward,  and  gave  him  in  marriage 
his  kinswoman  Lady  Katharine  Gordon.  A  force  of  French  and 
Burgundians  came  to  aid  him,  and  an  army  crossed  the  border,  but 
it  did  nothing,  as  the  rising  which  had  been  planned,  and  was  to 


T  H  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  299 

1488-1504 

have  been  made  at  the  same  time  in  the  North  of  England,  did  not 
take  place.  At  last  James  got  tired  of  Perkin,  sent  him  off  to 
Ireland,  though  with  a  princely  escort,  and  renewed  a  truce  with 
Henry  in  1497.  The  two  kings  were  drawn  still  closer  by  the 
marriage  of  James  with  Margaret  Tudor,  eldest  daughter  of 
Henry,  in  1502. 

James  paid  frequent  visits  to  Kintyre,  the  Isles,  and  Inverness, 
and  took  measures  for  the  building  of  more  castles  and  the  main- 
tenance of  garrisons  in  those  already  built.  This  plan  might  have 
been  successful  in  keeping  the  country  quiet  if  the  Crown  had  been 
strong  enough  to  carry  it  out.  As  it  was  not,  James  was  forced  to 
fall  back  on  the  old  policy  of  turning  the  feuds  of  the  chiefs  to  their 
own  destruction  by  empowering  one  to  act  against  another.  Again 
the  Gordons  got  a  great  increase  of  power,  for  their  head,  the  Earl 
of  Huntly,  was  appointed  sheriff  of  Inverness,  Ross,  and  Caithness, 
with  the  condition  that  he  should  finish  and  maintain  a  fortress  at 
Inverness.  In  the  West  the  charge  of  keeping  order  was  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  the  chief  of  the  Campbells.  An 
attempt  was  also  made  to  break  up  the  Isles  into  sheriffdoms,  and 
to  impose  upon  the  Highlanders  the  laws  of  the  Lowlands.  A 
commission  was  issued  for  the  banishment  of  broken  men,  as  those 
clansmen  were  called  who  had  no  representative  chiefs,  and  an 
act  was  passed  which  made  the  chiefs  responsible  for  the  execution 
of  legal  writs  upon  their  clansmen.  But  the  disaffected  chiefs 
rallied  round  Donald  Dhu,  an  illegitimate  descendant  of  the  last 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  and  it  took  three  years'  fighting  on  the  part  of 
the  king  and  of  Huntly  to  reduce  tliem.  Donald  was  at  last 
brought  captive  to  Edinburgh,  and  the  lordship  of  the  Isles  was 
finally  broken  up  in  1504. 

In  this  reign  Scotland  first  appears  as  a  naval  power,  and  this 
proved  a  new  source  of  strife  with  England.  A  captain,  Andrew 
Barton,  bore  letters  of  marque  against  the  Portuguese,  but  the 
English  accused  him  of  taking  English  vessels  also.  He  was  at- 
tacked in  time  of  truce  by  the  Tlowards.  He  himself  was  killed 
and  his  sliip,  the  Lion,  was  taken,  and  became  the  second  ship  in 
the  English  navy.  James  had  also  another  cause  of  complaint 
against  Henry  VIII. ,  for  Henry  refused  to  give  up  to  his  sister 
]\largaret  a  legacy  of  jewels  left  to  her  by  her  father.  When 
therefore  England  and  France  declared  war,  Scotland  stood  by  her 
old  ally,  the  bond  between  them  was  drawn  closer,  the  right  of  citi- 


300  SCOTLAND 

1504-1513 

zenship  in  France  was  extended  to  the  Scots,  and  Queen  Anne  of 
France  made  an  appeal  to  the  chivalrous  feeling  of  James  by 
choosing  him  as  her  knight,  and  calling  on  him  for  assistance. 
James  therefore  fitted  out  a  fleet  of  twenty-three  vessels.  Among 
them  was  a  very  large  ship  called  the  Great  Michael,  which  was 
looked  on  as  a  masterpiece  of  shipbuilding.  This  fleet  was  put 
under  the  command  of  James  Hamilton,  Earl  of  Arran,  with  orders 
to  sail  for  France.  Instead  of  doing  this,  he  stormed  Carrick- 
fergus,  and  what  became  of  the  ships  was  never  clearly  made  out. 

James  also  determined  to  invade  England.  Though  the  cause 
was  not  popular,  the  king  was,  and  a  large  army  soon  mustered. 
The  king  himself  led  the  host  across  the  border  and  encamped  on  the 
Till,  but,  as  he  would  not  take  the  advice  of  Angus  and  others 
who. knew  more  of  border  fighting  than  he  did,  he  mismanaged  the 
whole  affair.  He  idled  away  the  time  till  his  own  army  began  to 
disperse  and  the  English  had  time  to  gather ;  then  he  let  them  cross 
the  river  unopposed,  and  finally  left  his  strong  position  on  the  hill 
to  meet  them  hand  to  hand  in  the  plain.  The  result  was  an  utter 
defeat,  and  the  king,  who  was  more  eager  to  display  his  own  valor 
than  to  act  the  part  of  the  general  in  command,  was  slain  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  Twelve  earls  and  thirteen  barons  fell  round 
him,  and  every  noble  house  in  Scotland  left  some  of  its  name  on 
the  fatal  field  ol  Flodden,  September  9,  1513.  The  death  of  James 
IV.  was  deeply  mourned,  for  his  reign  had  been  peaceful  and  pros- 
perous. He  was  popular  with  the  nobles,  because  he  kept  them 
round  him,  and  freely  spent  his  father's  savings;  and  with  the 
commons,  because  of  his  rigorous  maintenance  of  justice,  his  en- 
couragement of  commerce  and  agriculture,  and  his  easy,  kindly 
manners.  James  is  described  as  middle-sized,  handsome,  and  well- 
made.  Besides  Latin  and  several  other  foreign  languages,  he 
could  speak  the  Irish  or  Gaelic,  which  was  the  native  tongue  of  his 
Western  subjects.  During  his  reign  Scotland  was  more  prosper- 
ous than  it  had  been  since  the  days  of  the  last  Alexander.  Trade 
was  flourishing  and  on  the  increase,  and  large  quantities  of  wool, 
hides,  and  fish  were  exported  to  other  countries. 

St.  Andrews  had  been  raised  to  an  archbishopric  in  147 1.  In 
1492,  at  the  petition  of  the  Estates,  the  pallium  was  sent  from 
Rome  to  Robert  lilackadder,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  with  license  to 
bear  the  cross  and  all  other  archiepiscopal  insignia.  This  led  to 
bitter  strife  between  the  two  archbishops,  who  referred  their  dis- 


THE     J  A  ?.I  E  S  E  S  301 

1513-1522 

putes  to  the  Pope,  to  the  great  wrath  of  the  Estates,  who  denounced 
and  forbade  all  such  appeals  to  Rome.  The  burning  of  Reseby  had 
not  put  a  stop  to  the  spreading  of  Wycliffe's  doctrines,  for  we  find 
thirty  persons  accused  of  the  Lollard  heresy  by  Blackadder.  Two 
great  steps  toward  the  advancement  of  learning  were  made  in  this 
reign:  the  one  was  the  foundation  of  a  third  university  at  Aber- 
deen, on  the  model  of  the  E^niversity  of  Paris,  by  Elphinstone,  the 
good  Bishop  of  Aberdeen  ;  the  other  v»'as  the  introduction  of  the  art 
of  printing,  by  means  of  which  knowledge  could  be  extended  to  the 
people.  The  first  press  was  set  up  by  Walter  Chapman,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  king. 

The  news  of  tlie  defeat  at  Flodden  spread  grief  and  terror 
through  the  country.  The  citizens  of  Edinburgh  built  a  wall  round 
their  city,  but  its  strength  was  not  tried,  for  the  English  army 
dispersed  instead  of  advancing.  The  Estates  met  at  Perth,  and  the 
queen-mother  was  appointed  regent,  for  the  king,  James  V.,  was  an 
infant  only  two  years  old.  But  within  a  year  the  queen  married 
Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus,  and  the  Estates  then  transferred  the 
regency  to  the  Duke  of  Albany,  High  Admiral  of  France.  Peace 
was  made  with  England,  Scotland  being  taken  in  as  the  ally  of 
France  in  a  treaty  between  that  country  and  England. 

Albany's  government  was  at  first  very  unpopular,  for  the 
national  jealousy  was  roused  by  the  number  of  his  French  fol- 
lowers. The  queen  at  first  refused  to  give  up  the  king,  but  she 
was  besieged  in  Stirling  Castle  and  obliged  to  yield.  The  country 
was  distracted  by  the  brawls  of  the  two  great  factions,  the  Hamil- 
tons  and  the  Douglases.  The  Earl  of  Arran  was  the  head  of  the 
former,  Angus  of  the  latter.  The  governor  put  them  down  with 
the  help  of  the  French :  Angus  was  seized  and  transported  to 
France;  his  wife  fled  to  England,  where  he  contrived  to  join  her 
before  long.  But  Albany  went  back  to  France  after  h.c  had  been 
about  a  year  in  Scotland ;  and  as  lie  left  a  Frenchman,  Anthony 
de  la  Bastie,  Warden  of  the  Border,  and  placed  the  strongholds  in 
the  hands  of  the  French  also,  the  vScots  grew  more  jealous  and 
turbulent  than  before.  De  la  Bastie  fell  a  victim  to  the  national 
hatred  of  foreigners,  being  killed  in  a  border  raid.  Tlie  Celts  in 
the  West  reasserted  their  independence,  and  the  feud  between  the 
Hamiltons  and  the  Douglases  broke  out  worse  than  ever.  They 
brought  their  brawls  into  the  very  streets  of  the  capital.  The 
Flamiltons   laid   a  plan   for  attacking  the  Douglases,   and   taking 


302  SCOTLAND 

1522-1524 

Angiis  prisoner.  In  the  fight  Angus  so  thoroughly  routed  his  foes 
that  the  fray  was  called  "  Clear  the  Causeway,"  and  after  it  he 
held  the  city  with  an  armed  force.  Thus  five  years  passed,  and  the 
regent,  who  had  nominally  gone  back  to  France  for  a  few  months 
only,  was  still  absent,  and  it  took  a  great  deal  of  urging  and  threat- 
ening from  the  Estates  to  bring  him  back  to  his  trust. 

It  was  now  nine  years  since  Flodden,  and,  as  there  had  been 
peace  with  England  during  that  time,  the  country  had  somewhat 
recovered  her  strength.  When  therefore  Henry  began  to  meddle 
in  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  to  require  that  Albany  should  be  dis- 
missed, and  that  the  French  connection  should  be  broken  off,  the 
Estates  refused  and  prepared  for  war.  As  the  greater  part  of  the 
English  force  was  in  France,  the  northern  counties  of  England 
were  comparatively  unprotected,  and  it  was  just  the  time  for  strik- 
ing an  effective  blow  there.  Instead  of  doing  this,  Albany  came 
to  terms  with  Lord  Dacre,  the  English  warden,  and  the  large  army 
that  had  gathered  round  him  melted  away  without  doing  anything. 
But  the  truce  was  not  renewed.  Dacre  stormed  Jedburgh,  and 
the  Scots  mustered  again.  This  time  their  numbers  were  increased 
by  the  presence  of  some  French  auxiliaries  whom  Albany  had 
brought  back  from  France,  to  which  he  had  paid  a  second  visit. 
Again  the  army  was  brought  to  the  border  without  being  led  any 
further.  By  this  time  the  Scots  were  thoroughly  disgusted  with 
Albany  and  he  with  them,  and  shortly  after  this  second  fruitless 
expedition  he  sailed  for  France  and  took  the  Frenchmen  with 
him,  1524. 

No  sooner  was  Albany  gone  than  Henry,  through  his  subtle 
chancellor  Wolsey,  tried  to  make  the  Scots  break  with  France. 
Margaret,  the  queen-mother,  was  the  great  upholder  of  the  Eng- 
lish interest;  James  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  and 
Chancellor,  was  the  leader  of  the  French  party.  Wolsey  tried  hard 
to  get  hold  of  Beaton  on  various  pretexts,  but  Beaton  was  too  cun- 
ning for  him,  and  held  himself  apart  in  his  own  strong  castle  of 
St.  Andrews,  where  he  kept  up  dealings  with  France.  But  the 
'  English  party  were  for  a  time  the  stronger,  and  by  the  advice  of 
Henry,  James,  who  was  now  twelve  years  old,  was  set  up  to  rule 
in  his  own  name,  and  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  parliament, 
August,  1524.  The  only  change  made  by  this  step,  called  the 
erection,  was  that  Albany's  nominal  government  was  done  away 
with,   and   the  French   influence  much  weakened.       Still    Henry's 


T  H  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  303 

1524-1528 

interference  was  not  liked,  and  the  capture  of  Frances  I.  at  Pavia 
turned  the  tide  of  popular  feeling  back  to  the  old  allies  of  France. 
Since  the  erection  Arran  had  been  the  nominal  head  of  the  gov- 
ernment, but  in  1526  the  king,  who  was  now  fourteen,  was  con- 
sidered old  enough  to  choose  his  own  guardians.  He  chose  the 
Earls  of  Errol,  Argyle,  and  Angus,  and  an  agreement  was  made 
that  each  in  sucession  was  to  have  the  care  of  the  king  for  three 
months.  Angus's  turn  came  first,  but  at  the  end  of  it  he  refused  to 
give  up  his  charge,  and  for  two  years  he  tyrannized  over  both  the 
king  and  his  subjects,  and  successfully  resisted  all  attempts  at  a 
rescue. 

James  at  last  contrived  to  make  his  escape  by  riding  in  the 
night,  disguised  as  a  groom,  from  Falkland  to  Stirling  Castle, 
1528.  Now  that  he  was  at  last  safely  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Douglases,  he  set  to  work  to  crush  them  utterly.  It  was  made 
treason  for  any  who  bore  that  name  to  come  within  six  miles  of  the 
king,  and  an  act  of  forfeiture  was  passed  against  them.  Angus 
had  many  adherents ;  but  as  all  those  nobles  who  hoped  for  a  share 
of  his  lands  took  part  with  the  king,  they  proved  too  strong  for 
him,  and  he  was  at  last  obliged  to  give  in  and  to  flee  for  refuge  to 
England.  Thus  the  overthrow  of  the  Red  Douglases  was  as  thor- 
ough as  had  been  that  of  the  elder  branch,  on  whose  ruin  they 
had  risen. 

James  began  his  reign  by  executing  summary  justice  on  the 
lawless  and  turbulent  part  of  his  subjects.  The  Borderers  were 
now  nearly  as  troublesome  as  the  Highlanders.  They  dwelt  in  the 
debatable  ground  between  England  and  Scotland,  and  preyed  on 
either  country  with  the  greatest  impartiality.  Certain  families,  as 
the  Kerrs,  Armstrongs,  and  Scotts,  had  a  sort  of  monopoly  of  this 
wholesale  thieving;  and  as  they  had  taken  to  tlie  clan  system  of  the 
Celts,  each  robber  chief  in  his  peel  tower  could  count,  not  only  on 
the  unquestioning  service,  but  also  on  the  personal  devotion  of 
every  man  in  his  following.  John  Armstrong  had  made  himself 
famous  among  them  by  his  daring  deeds.  For  this  renown  James 
made  him  pay  dear,  for,  judging  that  he,  the  most  notorious  of- 
fender, would  make  the  most  telling  example  of  the  force  of  justice, 
he  had  him  seized  and  hanged  like  a  common  thief.  New  means 
were  tried  for  quieting  tlie  disturbances  in  the  Western  Highlands 
and  Isles.  Argvle  was  deprived  of  his  lieutenancy,  and  the  gov- 
ernment  was   in   future  to  deal  directlv  with  the  chiefs   for  the 


304  SCOTLAND 

1528-1542 

collection  of  taxes  and  of  the  feudal  dues.  Several  persons  were  put 
to  death  in  this  reign  for  conspiracy  and  treason,  all  of  whom  were 
more  or  less  connected  with  the  banished  Angus. 

Though  the  need  of  a  reform  in  the  church  was  felt  and  openly 
discussed  in  parliament,  and  the  shortcomings  of  the  clergy  were 
unsparingly  ridiculed  by  the  popular  poets,  still  neither  the  king 
nor  the  people  were  inclined  to  break  off  from  Rome,  as  Henry 
VIII.  had  done.  But  Henry  was  most  anxious  that  his  nephew 
should  follow  his  example,  and  a  meeting  between  them  at  York 
was  agreed  on.  But  James,  doubtful  of  Henry's  good  faith,  did  not 
keep  tryst.  Henry  was  furious;  he  brought  up  again  the  old  claim 
of  supremacy  over  Scotland,  and  to  enforce  the  claim  he  sent  an 
army  to  invade  Scotland.  James  prepared  to  avenge  this  attack; 
but  when  his  army  got  as  far  as  the  border  the  nobles  refused  to  go 
further,  and  a  body  of  ten  thousand  men  who  had  passed  the  Esk 
were  surprised  and  scattered  by  Dacre  while  they  were  contending 
about  the  chief  command. 

The  king  meanwhile  was  waiting  in  Caerlaverock  Castle.  At 
the  same  time  that  he  heard  of  the  shameful  defeat  of  his  army  at 
Solway  Moss  the  news  was  brought  that  a  daughter  was  born  to 
him.  This  child  was  heir  to  the  throne,  for  his  two  sons  had  died 
in  infancy.  James  thought  that  the  birth  of  a  girl  at  this  time  was 
an  ill  omen  for  Scotland.  Eight  days  later  he  died  of  grief  and 
disappointment,  December  14,  1542.  James  is  the  first  King  of 
Scotland  of  whom  we  have  a  portrait.  He  was  handsome,  but  had 
red  hair,  which  won  him  the  nickname  of  the  "  Red  Tod,"  or  red 
fox.  He  was  not  liked  by  the  nobles,  but  the  commons  loved  him 
well.  His  habit  of  going  about  in  disguise  familiarly  among  the 
people  endeared  him  to  them,  and  led  him  into  many  amusing 
adventures.  In  character  and  policy  James  was  something  like 
James  I.  Like  him,  he  strove  to  curb  the  power  of  the  nobles,  and 
to  win  for  the  Crown  something  more  than  mere  nominal  power, 
by  making  reforms  which  were  much  needed  in  the  administration 
of  justice.  He  worked  out  his  ancestor's  idea  of  a  supreme  court 
of  justice  by  founding  the  Court  of  Session,  or  College  of  Justice. 
This  court  consisted  first  of  thirteen,  afterward  of  fifteen,  members, 
half  of  whom  were  clerks,  and  who  acted  both  as  judge  and  jury. 
As  the  members  of  this  court  were  chosen  from  the  parliament,  it 
had  the  power  of  parliament,  and  was  supreme  in  all  civil  cases, 
there  being  no  appeal  beyond  it.      James  was  not  only  a  patron  of 


T  H  E     J  A  M  E  S  E  S  305 

1542-1544 

letters,  but  himself  a  poet,  one  of  the  few  royal  poets  whose 
writings  will  bear  comparison  with  those  of  meaner  birth.  Two 
poems  that  are  ascribed  to  him  are  descriptions  of  scenes  from 
peasant  life.  If  indeed  they  were  written  by  him,  the  choice  of  the 
subjects  and  the  way  in  whicli  they  are  treated  show  how  well  he 
knew  the  condition  of  his  people.  They,  in  loving-  remembrance  of 
the  favor  he  had  always  shown  them,  gave  him  the  title  of  "  King 
of  the  Commons,  and  the  People's  Poet." 

James  Hamilton,  Earl  of  Arran,  next  heir  to  the  throne  by 
his  descent  from  James  II.,  was  chosen  regent,  but  as  it  was 
the  Scottish  custom  that  the  nearest  of  kin  on  the  mother's  side 
should  have  the  care  of  the  minor,  the  infant  queen  was  left  in 
charge  of  her  mother,  Mary  of  Lorraine.  The  defeat  at  Solway 
Moss  and  the  death  of  the  king  had  left  the  people  nearly  as  dispir- 
ited and  defenseless  as  they  had  been  after  Flodden,  and  Henry 
VIII.  determined  to  get  the  kingom  into  his  power  by  marrying 
Mary  to  his  son  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterward  Edward  VI. 

To  carry  out  his  plans  the  better  he  sent  Angus  back  to  Scot- 
land, and  with  him  several  other  nobles,  all  pledged  to  do  their  best 
to  place  the  queen  and  the  strongholds  in  the  hands  of  Henry.  These 
nobles  were  called  by  the  English  the  Assured  Scots,  because  Henry 
thought  he  could  be  sure  of  their  help,  but  they  were  either  unable 
or  unwilling  to  give  him  the  aid  for  which  he  had  hoped.  It  was  not 
till  July  in  the  next  year  that  two  treaties  were  drawn  up  at  Lon- 
don, the  one  for  the  English  alliance,  the  other  agreeing  to  the 
English  marriage  of  the  queen.  But  there  was  a  strong  national 
party  much  set  against  any  dealings  with  England,  and  though 
the  treaties  were  approved  at  one  meeting  of  the  Estates,  it  was 
plain  that  they  would  be  thrown  out  at  the  next.  The  regent  tried 
to  break  them  off,  and  Henry,  greatly  enraged,  made  ready  for  war. 
and  seized  some  Scottish  ships  which  had  been  driven  by  stress  of 
weather  into  English  ports.  This  was  reason  enough  for  the 
rejection  of  the  treaties  by  the  Estates.  Shortly  after  the  "Assured 
Scots  "  changed  sides  and  made  a  bond  with  the  regent ;  but  Henry 
found  a  new  supporter  in  Matthew  Stuart,  Earl  of  Lennox,  who,  as 
he  wished  to  marry  ■Margaret  Douglas,  daughter  of  Angus,  Henry's 
niece  and  ward,  was  eager  to  do  anything  to  win  Henry's  favor. 

W^ar  was  declared  at  Edinburgh  by  an  English  herald  May  i, 
1544,  and  an  English  army  under  the  Earl  of  Hertford  was  sent  by 
sea  and  landed  at  Granton.      He  was  bidden  to  destroy  Edinburgh 


306  SCOTLAND 

1544-1550 

and  as  many  other  towns  and  villages  as  he  conveniently  could, 
and  he  carried  out  his  orders  to  the  letter.  He  sacked  and  burned 
Leith,  a  wealthy  trading  town,  set  fire  to  Edinburgh,  though  no 
resistance  had  been  made  to  him  there,  robbed  the  burghs  on  the 
coast  of  Fife,  and  then  marched  south  to  the  border,  burning,  slay- 
ing, spoiling,  and  leaving  a  wasted  land  behind  him.  The  only 
resistance  he  met  with  was  near  the  border.  At  the  news  of  this 
success  six  hundred  borderers  from  the  Scottish  side,  who  had 
been  fighting  in  the  service  of  the  English  wardens,  changed  sides 
and  attacked  their  former  brothers  in  arms.  The  rest  of  the  nation 
then  took  heart,  and  a  large  force  was  mustered  and  brought  to  the 
border,  but  did  nothing. 

Before  the  traces  of  his  former  ravages  had  disappeared,  just 
when  the  next  harvest  was  ready  for  the  sickle,  Hertford  appeared 
again  at  the  head  of  a  motley  host,  swelled  by  half-savage  Irish 
and  by  foreign  hirelings,  and  repeated  the  wild  work  of  the  year 
before.  The  invaders  attacked  and  plundered  the  religious  houses. 
The  ruins  of  Kelso,  Melrose,  Dryburgh,  Roxburgh,  and  Colding- 
ham  still  bear  witness  to  their  zeal  in  carrying  out  the  orders  of 
their  master.  Towns,  manors,  churches,  and  between  two  and 
three  hundred  villages  were  left  in  ashes  behind  them.  All  this 
misery  was  wantonly  inflicted  without  winning  for  Henry  a  foot 
of  ground  or  a  single  new  subject. 

Two  years  passed,  and  again  the  sorely  scourged  country  was 
visited  by  its  old  enemy.  Hertford,  now  Duke  of  Somerset  and 
Protector  of  England  during  the  minority  of  Edward  VI.,  thought 
by  one  well-aimed  blow  to  wrest  from  the  people  their  proud  boast, 
the  national  independence.  Two  armies,  the  one  led  by  himself  and 
the  other  sent  by  sea,  met  at  Musselburgh  and  threatened  the  capi- 
tal. The  regent  had  mustered  a  large  force  to  resist  them,  and  the 
two  hosts  faced  each  other  on  opposite  banks  of  the  Esk.  But  the 
Scots  very  foolishly  left  their  strong  position  and  forced  the  Eng- 
lish to  a  battle,  in  which  they  were  again  defeated  with  great 
slaughter,  at  Pinkie,  September  lo,  1547.  After  the  battle  Somer- 
set went  back  to  England,  and  took  the  greater  part  of  his  army 
with  him.  As  most  of  the  strongholds  were  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  English,  it  was  thought  best  to  send  the  queen  to  France  that 
she  might  be  out  of  harm's  way.  The  French  sent  six  thousand 
men  to  help  in  driving  out  the  English,  a  work  that  was  not  ended 
till  1550,  when  a  short  peace  followed  the  nine  years  of  cruel  war. 


THEJAMESES  307 

1550-1559 

If  we  consider  the  difference  of  the  times  and  the  advance  of  civiH- 
zation,  the  fiercest  raids  of  Malcolm  and  of  Wallace  may  be  favor- 
ably compared  with  the  misery  wrought  by  Hertford  in  these  three 
savage  and  unprovoked  attacks. 

The  overthrow  of  the  monasteries,  the  seizure  of  their  rev- 
enues, and  the  other  changes  in  religious  matters  carried  out  by 
Henry  VHI.  in  England  had  been  approved  by  a  large  party  in 
Scotland.  They  were  eager  to  begin  the  same  work  there,  for  the 
church,  by  her  abuse  of  power  and  by  her  persecution  of  all  who 
differed  from  her,  was  fast  losing  her  hold  upon  the  people.  The 
first  outbreak  of  the  popular  feeling  was  the  murder  of  Cardinal 
David  Beaton,  the  Primate,  the  leader  of  the  French  party  in  the 
state  and  the  chief  mover  of  religious  persecution.  In  revenge  for 
the  burning  of  George  Wishart  in  1545,  for  preaching  what  was 
called  heresy,  sixteen  of  Wishart's  followers  murdered  Beaton  in 
his  own  Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  which  they  had  entered  by  a  strata- 
gem, and  which  they  held  for  fourteen  months,  setting  at  defiance 
all  the  regent's  efforts  to  retake  it.  It  was  only  with  the  help  of  the 
French  that  they  were  at  last  obliged  to  give  in,  and  were  sent  to 
the  French  galleys.  Among  them  was  John  Knox,  who  twelve 
years  later  became  famous  as  the  apostle  of  the  Reformation  among 
his  countr}'men.     The  castle  was  destroyed. 

In  1554,  Arran,  who  had  been  created  Duke  of  Chatelherault 
by  the  French  king,  went  back  to  France  and  Mary  of  Lorraine 
became  regent.  The  league  with  France  was  drawn  still  closer 
by  the  marriage  of  the  queen  with  Francis  the  Dauphin.  Fran- 
cis became  King  of  France  in  1559.  The  crown-matrimonial 
of  Scotland  was  then  granted  to  him,  so  that  the  two  coun- 
tries were  for  a  short  time  united  under  one  Crown.  On  the 
strength  of  this  the  French  began  to  give  themselves  airs  of  su- 
periority which  the  Scots  could  ill  bear  from  strangers,  and  before 
long  they  became  well-nigh  as  unpopular  as  the  English  had  been. 
The  regent  was  unconsciously  doing  her  best  to  foster  this  feeling 
of  dislike  by  placing  foreigners  in  offices  of  trust,  above  all  by 
making  Frenchmen  keepers  of  the  strongholds.  But  there  was 
another  influence  now  at  work,  the  desire  for  religious  reform, 
which  wrought  a  change  in  the  national  life  greater  than  any  that 
had  been  felt  since  the  time  of  the  first  Robert. 

The  intercourse  with  the  French  which  arose  from  the  close 
alliance  of  Scotland  with  France  influenced  the  social  development 


308  SCOTLAND 

1424-1557 

of  the  nation  throughout  this  period  more  strongly  than  during 
any  other  time  either  before  or  after  it.  The  members  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  when  they  met  in  parliament  were  not,  as  in  England, 
divided  into  lords  and  commons;  the  representatives  of  the  three 
Estates,  the  Barons,  the  Clergy,  and  the  Commons,  assembled  in 
one  chamber,  as  was  the  French  custom.  All  the  tenants  holding 
direct  from  the  Crown  were  required  to  present  themselves  at  these 
assemblies ;  but  James  I.  released  the  lesser  barons  from  this  attend- 
ance, which  they  felt  to  be  rather  an  irksome  duty  than  a  privilege, 
by  allowing  them  to  send  commissaries  in  their  stead.  These 
commissaries,  with  the  deputies  from  the  cities  and  burghs,  formed 
the  Third  Estate.  The  supreme  court  of  justice,  the  Court  of 
Session,  established  by  James  V.,  was  formed  on  the  model  of  the 
Parliament  of  Paris.  The  universities  were  founded  in  the  fif- 
teenth century,  at  St.  Andrews,  at  Glasgow,  and  at  Aberdeen.  Of 
these,  Aberdeen  was  an  exact  imitation  of  the  University  of  Paris. 
The  architecture  of  this  period,  both  domestic  and  ecclesiastical,  is 
in  many  respects  like  the  French.  Melrose  Abbey  and  the  palaces 
of  Falkland  and  of  Stirling,  which  were  very  richly  ornamented, 
were  built  in  the  time  of  the  Jameses.  The  houses  of  the  nobles 
were  also  built  in  imitation  of  the  French  style.  There  are  no 
remains  of  burgh  domestic  architecture  older  than  the  sixteenth 
century.  Many  French  words  also  found  their  way  into  the  Low- 
land Scotch,  as  the  language  of  the  Lothians  came  to  be  called. 
By  this  time  there  was  so  much  difference  between  this  dialect  and 
that  spoken  at  the  English  court  that  the  people  who  spoke  the 
one  could  scarcely  understand  the  other.  The  foreign  trade  of 
Scotland  was  most  prosperous  during  the  reign  of  James  IV.  Fish, 
wools,  and  hides  were  the  principal  exports.  By  this  time  coal, 
which  is  first  mentioned  toward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
was  in  general  use.  There  were  also  lead  and  iron  mines ;  and  gold 
was  found,  though  not  in  any  large  quantities.  From  this  native 
gold  James  IV.  struck  some  beautiful  coins,  which  were  called 
bonnet  pieces,  because  they  bore  the  image  of  the  king  wearing  a 
bonnet.  The  state  of  the  people  at  this  time  was  one  of  almost  serf- 
like dependence  on  their  lords.  But  great  as  the  power  of  the  nobles 
was,  there  were  no  forest  or  game  laws  in  Scotland,  nor  did  they 
enjoy  any  privilege  of  peerage.  An  offender  against  the  law,  if 
he  could  be  brought  to  justice,  had  to  "  thole  an  assize,"  like  any 
peasant,  however  high  his  rank  might  be. 


THEJAMESES  309 

1424-1557 

In  early  times  all  the  education  that  was  within  the  reach  of 
the  people  had  been  offered  to  them  by  the  church.  Schools  were 
founded  and  maintained  in  several  towns  by  the  great  monasteries, 
and  there  was  provision  made  for  the  education  of  the  choristers 
attached  to  the  several  cathedral  churches.  In  later  times  there 
were  grammar  schools  founded  by  the  burgh  corporations.  In 
1496  an  act  was  passed  requiring  all  "  barons  and  freeholders  "  to 
keep  their  sons  at  these  schools  until  they  should  be  "  competently 
founded,"  and  have  "  perfect  Latin "  under  pain  of  a  fine  of 
twenty  pounds.  A  book,  purporting  to  be  the  "  History  of  Scot- 
land," was  written  in  Latin  by  Hector  Boece,  the  first  Principal  of 
the  University  of  Aberdeen.  The  greater  part  of  this  book  is 
purely  imaginary.  The  Latin  "  Scotichronicon,"  of  Fordun,  was 
continued  by  Walter  Bower,  Abbot  of  Inchcolm,  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Besides  the  two  kings  James  I. 
and  V.  there  were  other  notable  poets  in  Scotland  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Blind  Harry  the  Minstrel  then 
did  for  Wallace  what  about  a  century  before  Barbour  had  done 
for  Bruce,  by  putting  together  all  the  popular  stories  of  his  deeds 
in  a  spirit-stirring  poem  that  bears  his  hero's  name.  William 
Dunbar,  a  friar  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  wrote  a  poem  called 
"  The  Thistle  and  the  Rose,"  to  celebrate  the  marriage  of  James 
IV.  with  jMargaret  Tudor.  This  and  the  "  Golden  Terge " 
and  the  "  Dance  of  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins  "  are  the  best  among 
his  writings.  Gawin  Douglas  also  wrote  several  poems  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixteenth  century.  Those  best  known  are  "  King 
Hart,"  the  "  Palace  of  Honor,"  and  a  translation  of  Virgil's 
"  ^neid."  Some  years  after  Douglas  wrote,  Sir  David  Lyndesay, 
the  companion  of  James  V.'s  childhood,  and  the  mourner  of  his 
untimely  death,  directed  many  clever  satires  against  the  abuses  in 
the  church,  the  vices  of  the  clerg)%  and  the  follies  of  the  court.  The 
"  Dreme,"  the  ''  Satire  of  the  Three  Estates,"  and  the  "  Monarchy," 
are  his  best  poems. 

During  this  period,  which  extends  over  more  than  a  century, 
the  country  made  little  progress  either  socially  or  politically.  Of 
the  five  kings,  all  bearing  the  same  name,  who  in  turn  wore  the 
crown,  four  died  violent  deaths,  and  of  these  four  two  were  treach- 
erously murdered  by  their  own  subjects,  ^lost  of  them  came  to 
the  throne  in  childhood;  not  one  attained  old  age.  Their  reigns 
were  chiefly  passed  in  struggles    to    put    down  their  lawless  and 


310  SCOTLAND 

1424-1557 

turbulent  nobles,  who  in  each  succeeding  minority  waxed  more 
powerful  and  more  independent.  In  the  reigns  of  James  II.  and  of 
James  V.  this  contest  between  the  Crown  and  the  Baronage  took 
the  form  of  a  struggle  between  the  House  of  Stuart  and  the  House 
of  Douglas.  In  both  cases  the  king  compassed  the  fall  of  his  rival 
only  by  placing  a  dangerous  amount  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
other  nobles.  The  foreign  policy  of  Scotland  under  the  Jameses 
was  very  simple.  It  consisted  in  maintaining  a  close  alliance  with 
France  and  a  constant  quarrel  with  England.  But  the  French  never 
gave  the  Scots  any  real  help,  and  the  English  were  so  much  taken 
up  at  home  with  the  civil  Wars  of  the  Roses  that  they  made  no 
serious  attacks  on  the  independence  of  Scotland.  Though  during 
this  period  there  were  four  long  minorities,  there  was  no  attempt 
made  to  break  the  regular  line  of  succession.  This  was  due  partly 
to  the  attachment  of  the  people  to  the  royal  line,  and  partly  to  the 
weakness  of  the  royal  authority,  for  the  king  had  so  little  real  power 
that  the  great  nobles  did  not  think  the  Crown  worth  taking.  The 
reign  of  James  IV.  was  the  most  peaceful  and  prosperous,  but 
James  I.  did  the  most  for  the  welfare  of  the  people. 


Chapter   VI 

THE  REFORMATION.    1557-1603 

FIVE  hundred  years  had  gone  by  since  the  English,  who 
fled  from  the  Norman  Conqueror,  had  brought  about  a 
great  social  revolution  in  the  Celtic  kingdom,  where  they 
found  a  refuge.  We  now  find  another  revolution  arising  from  a 
very  similar  cause.  But  there  was  a  difference  in  the  way  in  which 
these  great  changes  were  wrought  out  characteristic  of  the  two 
centuries  in  which  they  took  place.  In  the  eleventh  century  it  was 
the  influence  of  the  Court  which  little  by  little  changed  the  people; 
in  the  sixteenth  century  the  people  struggled  against,  and  in  the 
end  overcame,  the  opposition  of  the  Court.  When  Mary  Tudor  be- 
came Queen  of  England  she  wished  to  place  the  English  Church 
under  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  even  more  than  it  had  been  before 
the  changes  of  her  father  Henry.  All  who  held  the  Reformed 
doctrines  were  persecuted  as  heretics.  Many  of  these  so-called 
heretics  sought  safety  across  the  border  in  Scotland,  and  were 
welcomed  there  with  a  kindness  that  would  have  seemed  impossible 
but  a  few  years  before,  when  the  deadly  war  was  waging.  But 
religious  sympathy  got  the  better  of  national  hate.  Still  the  tra- 
ditional bent  of  the  national  feeling  influenced  the  character  of  the 
new  movement,  and  led  the  Scottish  reformers  to  mold  anew  the 
polity  and  form  of  worship  of  their  church  after  the  model  of  the 
French  Calvinists,  rather  than  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  her  merely  doctrinal  reform. 

In  Scotland,  as  in  the  other  lands  of  western  Christendom, 
the  clergy  had  lost  their  hold  on  the  commons  by  their  immorality 
and  irreligion,  their  greed  of  money,  and  their  abuse  of  their 
spiritual  powers ;  while  they  had  roused  the  jealousy  of  the  nobles 
by  their  wealth,  and  by  the  influence  won  by  their  learning,  which, 
though  it  was  often  but  little,  secured  to  them  the  offices  of  state. 
The  hope  of  getting  hold  of  some  of  the  well-cultivated  church 
lands  led  many  lairds,  as  landholders  are  called  in  Scotland,  to  join 
tlie  popular  movement  of  reform. 

311 


312  SCOTLAND 

1557-1559 

The  friends  of  reform  were  thus  silently  becoming  a  power  in 
the  state,  and  as  had  been  the  Scottish  custom  for  centuries,  they 
joined  themselves  together  by  a  bond,  1557.  In  this  bond  they 
pledged  themselves  to  support  one  another,  and  to  do  their  utmost 
for  the  spread  of  the  new  doctrines.  This  bond  is  called  the  First 
Covenant.  By  it  the  authority  of  the  Pope  was  renounced,  and  the 
use  of  the  English  Bible  and  of  the  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI. 
was  enjoined.  Thenceforth  the  barons  who  had  signed  it  called 
themselves  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation.  The  burning  of  Walter 
Mill,  an  aged  priest  of  blameless  life,  who  suffered  for  heresy  at 
St.  Andrews  in  1558,  roused  them  to  action.  They  dem.anded  of 
the  regent  a  reformation  of  religion  after  the  principles  of  their 
bond.  Though  at  first  she  seemed  inclined  to  grant  what  they 
asked,  she  afterward  set  her  face  against  them,  and  cited  some  of 
the  preachers  of  the  new  doctrines  before  the  Privy  Council.  A 
great  body  of  their  followers  gathered  at  Perth  to  come  with  them ; 
the  regent,  in  alarm,  begged  them  to  disperse  and  promised  to 
withdraw  the  citation.  Instead  of  doing  this,  she  outlawed  the 
preachers  for  not  coming. 

This  breach  of  promise  on  the  regent's  part  provoked  their 
followers  to  a  breach  of  the  peace.  The  mob  attacked  and  tried  to 
pull  down  the  churches  and  the  religious  houses  at  Perth,  May  11, 
1559,  and  this  tumult  was  followed  by  riots  of  the  same  kind  in 
other  towns.  John  Knox  was  the  spiritual  leader  of  the  move- 
ment. But  he  wished  to  destroy  only  the  images  and  ornaments  in 
the  churches,  which  he  looked  on  as  idolatrous,  not  the  churches 
themselves.  Nor  is  it  to  be  laid  on  the  charge  of  the  reformers 
that  there  is  but  one  cathedral  church  left  entire  in  Scotland;  the 
ruin  of  far  the  greater  number  of  the  churches  and  religious  houses 
is  due  to  the  English  invasions,  or  to  the  neglect  of  later  times. 
After  this  outbreak  the  Congregation  strengthened  themselves  in 
Perth,  but  many  of  the  lords,  among  others  the  Lord  James 
Stuart,  illegitimate  son  of  James  V.,  joined  the  regent,  and,  had 
she  been  true  to  her  promises,  the  strife  which  now  broke  out  be- 
tween the  two  parties  might  have  been  prevented.  But  she  led  a 
French  force  against  the  Congregation,  who  were  now  in  open 
rebellion.  An  agreement  was  made  that  the  questions  at  issue 
between  them  should  be  left  to  be  settled  by  the  Estates,  while  both 
armies  laid  down  their  arms  and  the  French  garrison  was  turned 
out  of  Perth.     But  the  regent  did  not  keep    to    the    spirit  of  this 


THE     REFORMATION  313 

1559-1561 

treaty,  though  she  avoided  breaking  the  letter  of  it  by  garrisoning 
Perth  with  native  troops  hired  with  French  money.  On  this  the 
Congregation  flew  to  arms,  seized  St,  Andrews,  and  occupied  Edin- 
burgh. There,  in  a  meeting  which  they  called  a  parliament,  they 
deposed  the  regent,  though  they  still  professed  loyalty  to  the  king 
and  queen.  But  they  were  too  weak  to  hold  the  advantage  they 
had  won,  and  as  Elizabeth  had  now  succeeded  Mary  in  England, 
they  looked  to  her  for  support. 

Elizabeth  would  not  treat  with  subjects  in  open  rebellion 
against  their  sovereign,  though  IMary  had  given  her  good  reason 
for  offense  by  quartering  the  arms  of  England  on  her  shield,  as 
though  she  were  lawful  queen  and  Elizabeth  only  a  usurper.  At 
last  a  treaty  was  arranged  at  Berwick  in  1560  between  Elizabeth 
and  the  rebels.  Chatelherault,  the  next  heir  to  the  Scottish  Crown, 
acted  for  the  Congregation,  and  by  this  treaty  Elizabeth  promised 
to  send  troops  to  prevent  the  French  conquering  Scotland.  The 
war  that  now  followed  presented  the  unwonted  sight  of  the  Scots 
on  Scottish  ground  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  English  against 
their  old  allies  of  France.  But  before  the  year  was  out  the  French 
were  called  away  by  troubles  at  home,  and  by  the  Treaty  of  Edin- 
burgh it  was  agreed  that  no  foreigners  should  in  future  be  em- 
ployed in  the  country  without  the  consent  of  the  Estates.  The 
Estates  promised  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  queen  that  they 
should  acknowledge  Elizabeth  as  lawful  Queen  of  England,  and 
thenceforth  make  no  pretension  to  her  kingdom. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty  the  regent  died.  The 
Estates  then  approved  the  Geneva  Confession  of  Faith,  abjured  the 
authority  of  the  Pope,  and  forbade  the  saying  of  the  mass,  or  even 
assisting  at  the  mass,  on  pain  of  forfeiture  for  the  first  offense, 
banishment  for  the  second,  death  for  the  third,  August  25,  1560. 
Thus  the  old  ecclesiastical  system,  with  all  its  rites  and  ceremonies, 
was  suddenly  overthrown.  But  this  was  only  in  name;  in  reality 
it  only  died  out  bit  by  bit. 

Just  a  vear  after  this  the  queen  came  home,  August,  1561. 
She  was  now  a  widow,  so  the  Scots  were  freed  from  the  fear  they 
had  felt  of  seeing  their  country  sink  into  a  province  of  France. 
The  people,  who  had  an  almost  superstitious  reverence  for  kingship, 
which  was  very  inconsistent  with  their  contempt  for  kingly  au- 
thority, welcomed  her  witli  (ipcn  arms,  and  showed  their  good  will 
by  a  greater  displav  of  discordant  and  grotescjue  rejoicing  than  the 


314  SCOTLAND 

1561-1562 

austere  teachers  of  the  new  doctrines  could  approve.  As  yet  they 
only  saw  in  her  the  representative  of  that  long  line  of  Celtic  kings 
whom  they  chose  to  look  on  as  their  own.  She  was  the  "  child  " 
for  whom  they  had  struggled  so  long  and  had  suffered  so  much 
from  the  English.  They  had  yet  to  find  out  that  she  had  come  back 
to  them  French  in  all  but  birth,  gifted  with  wit,  intellect,  and 
beauty,  but  subtle  beyond  their  power  of  searching,  and  quite  as 
zealous  for  the  old  form  of  religion  as  they  were  for  the  new  one. 
The  queen,  too,  who  came  thus  as  a  stranger  among  her  own 
people,  had  to  deal  with  a  state  of  things  unknown  in  former  reigns. 
Hitherto  the  church  had  taken  the  side  of  the  Crown  against  the 
nobles ;  now  both  were  united  against  the  Crown,  whose  only  hope 
lay  in  the  quarrels  between  these  ill-matched  allies. 

The  chief  cause  of  discord  between  them  was  the  property  of 
the  church.  The  reform  ministers  fancied  that  they  had  suc- 
ceeded, not  only  to  the  Pope's  right  of  dictation  in  all  matters,  pub- 
lic and  private,  but  to  the  lands  of  the  church  as  well.  To  neither 
of  these  claims  would  the  lords  agree.  They  were  as  little  in- 
clined to  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  presbyters  as  to  the  tyranny  of 
the  Pope.  They  withstood  the  ministers  who  wished  to  forbid  the 
queen  and  her  attendants  hearing  mass  in  her  private  chapel,  and 
they  refused  to  accept  as  law  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  a  code  of 
rules  drawn  up  by  the  ministers  for  the  guidance  of  the  new  church. 
As  to  the  land,  much  of  it  had  already  passed  into  the  hands  of 
laymen,  who,  with  the  lands,  generally  bore  the  title  of  the  church 
dignitary  who  had  formerly  held  them.  The  Privy  Council  took 
one-third  of  what  remained  to  pay  the  stipends  of  the  ministers, 
v^•hile  the  rest  was  supposed  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  church- 
men in  possession,  and  as  they  died  out  it  was  to  become  Crown 
property. 

Lord  James  Stuart,  Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  whom  the  queen 
created  Earl  of  Murray,  was  the  hope  of  the  Protestants,  but  in  the 
North  the  Catholics  were  still  numerous  and  strong.  Their  head 
was  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  chief  of  the  Gordons,  who  reigned  supreme 
over  most  of  the  North,  and  whose  word  was  law  where  decrees 
of  parliament  would  have  been  set  at  naught.  As  his  great  power 
was  looked  on  as  dangerous  to  the  state,  his  downfall  was  resolved 
on.  Murray  and  the  queen  set  out  for  the  North  to  visit  him,  as 
was  said,  but  with  so  large  a  force  that  he  thought  it  expedient  to 
keep  out  of  their  way.     His  Castle  of  Inverness  was  besieged  and 


THE     REFORMATION  315 

1562-1566 

taken  and  the  governor  hanged,  and  his  followers  were  defeated 
and  he  himself  slain  in  1562.  His  body  was  brought  to  Edinburgh, 
as  was  the  custom  in  cases  of  treason,  that  the  sentence  of  for- 
feiture might  be  passed  on  it.  His  son  was  beheaded  at  Aberdeen ; 
and  thus  the  power  of  the  Gordons  was  broken.  Thus  Mary  during 
the  first  part  of  her  reign  showed  no  favor  to  the  Catholics,  but 
still  she  did  not  confirm  the  Reformation  Statutes. 

The  most  interesting  question  now  for  all  parties  was  whom 
the  queen  would  marry.  Many  foreign  princes  were  talked  of,  and 
Elizabeth  suggested  her  own  favorite,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  but 
Mary  settled  the  matter  herself  by  falling  in  love  with  her  own 
cousin,  Henry  Stuart,  Lord  Darnley.  He  was  son  of  Lennox  and 
Margaret  Douglas,  and  was  therefore  the  grandson  of  Margaret 
Tudor.  IMary  called  a  special  council  and  announced  to  them  her 
intended  marriage.  She  then  raised  Darnley  to  the  Earldom  of 
Ross,  and  afterward  created  him  Duke  of  Albany.  They  were 
married  with  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church,  July  29,  1565.  Mur- 
ray had  refused  his  consent  to  the  marriage.  He  and  some  others 
of  the  lay  lords  now  took  up  arms.  Tliey  got  into  the  town  of 
Edinburgh,  but  were  fired  at  from  the  castle,  and,  as  they  were 
disappointed  in  their  hopes  of  recruits,  they  retreated  to  Dumfries. 
There  they  issued  a  declaration  that  their  religion  was  in  danger, 
and  that  the  queen  had  acted  unconstitutionally  in  proclaiming 
Darnley  King  of  Scotland  without  the  consent  of  the  Estates.  The 
feudal  force  was  summoned,  and  the  king  and  queen  led  it  against 
them.  On  this  the  lords  retreated  into  England  and  disarmed 
their  followers. 

Mary  soon  began  to  tire  of  her  worthless  husband.  She  had 
all  the  weakness  of  her  family  for  making  favorites,  and  no  wisdom 
in  the  choice  of  them.  At  this  time  she  had  taken  a  fancy  to  an 
Italian,  David  Rizzio,  who  acted  as  her  secretary,  and  who  had 
great  skill  in  music  to  recommend  him.  The  nobles  grew  jealous 
of  this  foreigner  and  determined  to  get  rid  of  him ;  but,  to  save 
themselves  from  any  ill-consequences  of  the  murder  which  they  had 
planned,  they  persuaded  Darnley  to  sign  a  bond  promising  to  stand 
by  them  in  anything  they  might  do.  At  the  same  time  he  signed 
another  bond  for  the  recall  of  Murray  and  the  other  banished  lords. 
Tl^.e  queen  summoned  a  parliament,  which  she  expected  would  pro- 
nounce sentence  of  forfeiture  on  those  banished  lords.  In  order  to 
secure  compliance  with  her  wishes,  she  interfered  with  the  choosing 


316  SCOTLAND 

1566-1577 

of  the  Lords  of  the  Articles,  into  whose  hands  all  the  real  business 
of  the  parliament  was  thrown.  One  evening,  as  she  was  sitting  at 
supper  in  the  palace  at  Holyrood,  the  conspirators,  who  had  secured 
the  gates,  burst  into  the  room,  headed  by  the  Lord  Ruthven.  They 
seized  on  Rizzio,  who  clutched  at  the  queen  for  help ;  they  dragged 
him  into  the  outer  room,  killed  him,  and  then  threw  the  body 
downstairs,  March  9,  1566.  His  fate  was  not  made  known  to  the 
queen  till  next  day.  James  Hepburn,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  who  al- 
ready stood  high  in  the  queen's  favor,  and  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  who 
had  been  restored  to  the  titles  and  estates  which  his  father  had 
forfeited,  were  in  the  palace  when  it  was  thus  taken  possession  of, 
but  they  contrived  to  escape. 

The  queen  showed  no  signs  of  anger  at  first.  She  pretended 
to  be  reconciled  to  Darnley,  and  promised  pardon  to  the  banished 
lords.  When  they  appeared  before  her  the  next  day,  she  received 
Murray  affectionately.  But  the  confederates  soon  found  that  they 
had  been  mistaken  in  their  hopes  of  Darnley,  for  in  the  night  fol- 
lowing he  fled  with  the  queen  to  Dunbar.  Bothwell  brought  up  a 
force  for  her  protection,  and  before  the  end  of  the  month  she  re- 
entered Edinburgh.  Rizzio's  body  was  taken  up  and  buried  among 
the  kings  in  the  palace  chapel,  and  James  Douglas,  Earl  of  Morton, 
Lord  Ruthven,  and  others  were  cited  to  answer  for  the  murder  of 
Rizzio,  and,  as  they  did  not  appear,  they  were  outlawed. 

A  new  favorite  soon  took  the  place  of  Rizzio  in  the  queen's 
regard.  This  was  Bothwell,  who  had  lately  done  such  good  service 
in  coming  to  her  aid  at  Dunbar.  The  abbey-lands  of  IMelrose  and 
Haddington  were  given  to  him.  He  was  made  Lord  High  Ad- 
miral and  Warden  of  the  Borders,  and  it  was  noticed  that  it  was 
he  and  not  Darnley  who  played  the  principal  part  at  the  baptism 
of  her  son,  the  Prince  of  Scotland.  Darnley  was  hated  by  every- 
one, by  his  wife  because  he  had  connived  at  the  murder  of  her 
favorite,  and  by  his  accomplices  for  his  treachery  in  deserting 
them.  Shortly  after  this  he  fell  ill  of  small-pox,  and  was  taken  to 
Glasgow,  to  be  tended  by  his  father,  Lennox.  There,  when  he  was 
getting  better,  the  queen  paid  him  a  visit,  and  proposed  that  he 
should  be  taken  to  Craigmillar  Castle,  in  order  to  hasten  his  re- 
covery; but  this  plan  was  afterward  changed,  and  he  went  instead 
to  a  house  called  the  Kirk-o'-Field,  close  to  Edinburgli.  This 
house  was  blown  up  on  the  night  of  February  9,  1567,  while  the 
queen  was  present  at  a  ball  at  Holyrood,  and  the  bodies  of  Darnley 


THE     REFORMATION  317 

1567 

and  of  his  page  were  found  in  a  field  hard  by,  as  though  they  had 
been  killed  while  trying  to  make  their  escape.  It  was  commonly 
believed  that  Bothwell  was  guilty  of  the  murder,  and  it  was  sus- 
pected that  he  had  done  it  to  please  the  queen  and  with  her  consent. 
This  suspicion  was  strengthened  by  her  conduct.  She  made  no 
effort  to  find  out  the  murderer  and  to  bring  him  to  punishment,  and 
on  the  day  of  the  funeral  she  gave  Bothwell  the  feudal  superiority 
over  the  town  of  Leith.  Lennox  now  came  forward  and  demanded 
that  Bothwell  and  the  other  persons  suspected  of  the  murder  should 
be  tried  by  the  Estates.  This  was  granted  and  a  day  was  fixed  for 
the  trial.  But  as  Lennox  was  forbidden  to  bring  any  but  his  own 
household  when  he  appeared  as  the  accuser  of  the  murderer,  while 
Bothwell  had  a  great  following,  he  thought  it  more  prudent  not  to 
appear.  As  no  one  came  forward  to  bring  evidence  against  Both- 
well,  he  was  acquitted,  and  he  offered  to  give  wager  of  battle  to 
anyone  who  should  still  accuse  him. 

Bothwell  was  now  determined  on  marrying  the  queen,  and 
after  the  parliament  rose  he  got  many  of  the  nobles  to  sign  a  bond 
agreeing  to  help  him  to  do  so.  As  he  was  already  married  to 
Huntly's  sister,  his  wife  had  to  be  got  rid  of  first.  This  was  not 
now  such  an  easy  matter  as  it  had  been  in  former  times.  The 
canon  law  had  been  done  away  with  along  with  the  old  church ;  the 
reformers  had  set  up  a  court  of  their  own  to  try  such  cases,  while 
the  queen  had  lately  restored  the  old  one.  To  make  the  matter 
sure  Bothwell's  marriage  was  dissolved  in  both  these  courts.  As 
the  queen  was  coming  back  from  Stirling,  where  she  had  been  to 
visit  her  child,  Bothwell  met  her  and  carried  her  off  to  Dunbar, 
and  on  the  day  the  divorce  was  sent  they  came  back  to  Edinburgh 
together.  He  was  created  Duke  of  Orkney  and  Shetland,  and  they 
were  married  by  Adam  Bothwell,  who  had  been  Bishop  of  Orkney, 
but  was  now  one  of  the  mitnisters  of  the  new  church,  May   15, 

1567. 

A  fortnight  later  J\Iary  called  out  the  feudal  force  for  an  at- 
tack on  the  borderers,  but  the  barons  did  not  answer  to  her  sum- 
mons. On  this  the  queen  and  Bothwell,  alarmed  at  the  increasing 
signs  of  discontent,  shut  themselves  up  in  his  strong  castle  of 
Borthwick,  and  they  were  scarcely  there  before  an  army  with  Lord 
Morton  and  Lord  Home  at  its  head  appeared  at  its  gates,  and 
they  fled  to  Dunbar.  The  barons  then  entered  Edinburgh ;  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  castle  gave  it  up  to  them.     They  had  the  prince  in 


318  SCOTLAND 

1567 

their  hands,  and  they  took  measures  for  carrying  on  the  govern- 
ment, though  they  still  professed  to  act  in  the  queen's  name,  and  to 
be  only  striving  to  free  her  from  Bothwell.  He  meanwhile  had 
mustered  his  followers,  who,  though  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  were 
in  discipline  far  inferior  to  their  opponents.  The  two  armies  met 
near  Musselburgh,  but  there  was  no  battle,  for  the  queen  surren- 
dered to  William  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  who  had  been  sent  out 
with  a  body  of  horse  to  cut  off  her  retreat  to  Dunbar,  at  Carberry, 
June  15,  1567,  on  condition  that  Bothwell  should  be  allowed  to 
return  to  Dunbar  unhurt.  Bothwell  escaped  first  to  his  own  duke- 
dom of  Orkney,  and  afterward  to  Denmark,  where  he  died  about 
ten  years  later. 

Just  a  month  after  her  third  marriage  the  queen  was  brought 
back  to  Edinburgh,  to  be  greeted  by  the  railings  of  the  mob,  who 
now  openly  accused  her  as  a  murderess,  and  paraded  before  her 
eyes  a  banner  showing  the  dead  body  of  her  husband,  her  infant 
son  on  his  knees,  as  though  praying  for  justice  against  the  mur- 
derers of  his  father,  and  the  words,  "  Judge  and  avenge  my  cause, 
O  Lord,"  embroidered  upon  it.  From  Edinburgh  she  was  taken  to 
a  lonely  castle  built  on  a  small  island  in  the  center  of  Loch  Leven. 
A  few  days  later  a  casket  containing  eight  letters  was  produced. 
These  letters,  it  was  said,  Bothwell  had  left  behind  him  in  his  flight, 
and  they  seemed  to  have  been  written  by  Mary  to  him  while  Darn- 
ley  was  ill  in  Glasgow.  If  she  really  wrote  them,  they  proved  very 
plainly  that  she  had  planned  the  murder  with  Bothwell.  They  are 
called  the  "  casket  letters,"  from  the  box  or  casket  in  which  they 
were  found.  The  confederate  barons  acted  as  if  they  were  really 
hers.  The  Lord  Lindsay  and  Robert  Melville  were  sent  to  her  at 
Loch  Leven,  and  she  there  signed  the  demission  of  the  government 
to  her  son,  and  desired  that  Murray  should  be  the  first  regent. 
From  that  time  Mary  ceased  to  be  Queen  of  .Scots.  Her  beauty, 
talents,  and  misfortunes  have  won  her  much  pity  and  many 
champions,  but  it  w^as  her  own  folly  and  sin  that  changed  the  love 
of  her  people  into  hate,  and  their  rejection  of  her  stands  out  as  one 
of  the  facts  in  their  history  that  does  most  honor  to  the  nation. 

The  infant  king, 'James  VI.,  who  was  now  to  be  set  up  in  the 
room  of  his  mother  was  crowned  and  anointed  at  Stirling,  1567. 
By  his  sponsor  Morton  he  took  an  oath  to  uphold  the  reformed, 
or,  as  its  supporters  called  it,  the  true  church,  and  to  root  out  all 
heretics  and  enemies  of  the  same.      Murray    was    recalled    from 


THE     REFORMATION  319 

1567-1568 

France,  whither  he  had  gone  soon  after  the  murder  of  the  king-. 
He  made  some  objection  to  accepting  the  regency,  and  would  not 
do  so  till  he  had  had  an  interview  with  his  sister.  At  last  he  agreed 
to  take  it,  to  comply  with  her  wishes,  as  he  said.  As  the  country 
was  crying  out  for  vengeance  on  the  murderers  of  the  king,  four 
of  Bothwell's  creatures  who  had  aided  in  his  crime  were  hanged  at 
Edinburgh,  but  no  steps  were  taken  to  punish  the  lords  who  had 
joined  themselves  by  a  bond  with  Bothwell. 

But  there  was  a  large  party  of  the  nobles,  with  the  Hamiltons 
at  their  head,  who  were  opposed  to  the  new  government  and  kept 
themselves  apart  at  Hamilton.  Before  a  year  of  her  captivity  had 
passed  Mary  escaped  and  joined  them  there,  and  again  took  up  the 
scepter  which  she  had  so  lately  laid  down.  Eighteen  lords  of  par- 
liament and  many  lesser  barons  signed  a  bond  to  uphold  their 
queen,  and  she  sent  a  message  from  her  court  at  Hamilton  to  Mur- 
ray, who  was  at  Glasgow  almost  unguarded,  commanding  him  to 
resign  the  regency.  Instead  of  obeying,  Murray  seized  the  herald 
who  had  come  to  proclaim  the  queen,  sent  to  Stirling  for  cannon, 
and  called  out  the  feudal  force  in  the  name  of  King  James. 

The  Castle  of  Dunbarton  Rock,  the  strongest  fortress  in  the 
kingdom,  was  held  for  the  queen,  and  to  it  she  determined  to  go 
for  greater  safety.  To  get  there  she  had  to  pass  close  by  Glasgow, 
where  Murray  was.  At  Langside,  on  the  southern  shore  of  the 
Clyde,  her  way  was  barred  by  the  king's  army,  which,  though  not 
so  large  as  her  own,  had  much  better  leaders.  The  fight  that  fol- 
lowed settled  the  fate  of  Scotland,  May  13,  1568.  Few  lives  were 
lost,  for  at  the  first  charge  the  spears  of  the  front  rank  were  locked 
in  the  jacks  of  their  opponents.  They  could  thus  neither  go  back- 
ward nor  forward,  and  kept  those  behind  from  coming  within  arm's 
length  of  one  another.  Grange  turned  the  day  by  charging  the 
queen's  force  with  his  cavalry.  They  fled  in  confusion,  and  Mary 
rode  with  all  speed  to  the  border,  crossed  the  Sohvay,  and  going 
straight  to  Carlisle,  threw  herself  on  the  protection  of  Elizabeth. 
But  Elizabeth  had  not  forgotten  how  ]\Iary  had  assumed  her  arms 
and  had  given  herself  out  as  the  real  Queen  of  England ;  and  as  she 
knew  that  Mary,  if  left  at  liberty,  would  plot  with  the  English 
Roman  Catholics,  she  put  her  in  ward  in  Bolton  Castle,  and  refused 
to  see  her  till  she  cleared  herself  of  the  suspicion  under  which  she 
lay  of  having  been  concerned  in  her  husband's  death.  But  at  the 
same  time   Elizabeth   would  not  acknowledge  the  government  of 


320  SCOTLAND 

1568-1569 

Scotland,  nor  approve  the  conduct  of  the  lords  who  had  set  up 
King  James,  for  she  did  not  like  the  doctrine  that  princes,  however 
badly  they  had  acted,  might  be  judged  and  punished  by  their 
subjects. 

To  give  both  parties  a  chance  of  saying  what  they  could  for 
themselves,  it  was  agreed  to  hold  a  conference,  to  which  Murray 
came  in  person,  and  Mary  and  Elizabeth  each  sent  commissioners. 
The  conference  met  at  York  in  October.  On  opening  it  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  required  that  Murray  should  do  homage  in  the  name  of 
his  king  to  the  Queen  of  England.  On  this,  William  Maitland  of 
Lethington,  the  Scottish  Secretary  of  State,  a  very  subtle  man,  said 
that  if  England  liked  to  give  up  again  the  northern  counties,  once 
held  by  Scotland,  their  king  would  gladly  do  homage  for  them; 
but  as  for  the  kingdom  it  was  as  free,  or  more  so,  than  England 
itself.  This  he  said  to  show  that  they  did  not  ask  Elizabeth  to 
judge  between  them  because  she  had  any  right  to  interfere,  but 
only  because  she  was  their  nearest  neighbor.  Before  the  end  of  the 
month  the  conference  was  removed  to  Hampton  Court,  and  held 
before  the  queen  in  Council.  The  lords  brought  forward  the 
"  casket  letters,"  as  a  proof  against  Mary,  and  she  refused  to  vindi- 
cate herself,  but  ordered  her  commissioners  to  withdraw.  Thus 
the  conference  ended,  leaving  matters  much  as  they  were  before, 
for  Elizabeth  decided  that  nothing  had  been  brought  forward  to  the 
dishonor  of  Murray,  nor  anything  proved  against  Mary.  At  the 
same  time  she  lent  Murray  five  thousand  pounds  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  and  order  between  the  two  countries,  which  was  an 
indirect  acknowledgment  of  his  government. 

The  Hamiltons  and  Huntly  were  the  chief  upholders  of  Mary's 
interest.  The  Hamiltons  wished  to  keep  Mary  on  the  throne,  be- 
cause they  were  the  next  heirs  to  Mary,  and  in  the  event  of  her 
son  dying  before  her,  Chatelherault  could  claim  the  Crown.  But 
as  they  were  not  the  next  heirs  to  James,  they  were  naturally  op- 
posed to  the  revolution  which  had  placed  him  on  the  throne,  for 
they  feared  that  if  he  died  when  actually  reigning  the  Crown  would 
pass  to  his  heir,  Charles  Stuart,  his  father's  brother.  Huntly  held 
out,  from  hatred  of  Murray  and  love  of  the  old  church,  which  was 
still  strong  in  his  county.  A  compromise  was  at  last  made  between 
the  two  parties.  Murray  promised  a  pardon  for  all  past  offenses 
and  a  reversal  of  forfeitures  if  the  other  party  would  promise  to 
obey  King  James.    To  make  matters  more  sure,  when  the  Duke  of 


THE    KF.CEXT    .AIUKRAV 
(jAMES    STUART.    EAKL    OF    MrKUAV). 

riii)'itii:^    by    an    L'nknoii.')!    Artist,    llolyrnnd    I'.iLir 


THE     REFORMATION  321 

1569-1570 

Chatelherault  went  up  to  Edinburgh  Murray  put  him  in  ward  in 
the  castle.  Just  at  this  time  there  was  a  great  rising  of  the  Roman 
Cathohcs  in  the  north  of  England.  Murray  marched  southward 
in  order  to  be  ready  to  put  down  any  disturbance  on  the  border. 
There  he  seized  as  his  prisoner  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  the 
head  of  the  Catholics  in  England,  who  had  come  to  seek  a  refuge 
on  the  Scottish  side  among  the  borderers,  many  of  whom  still  clung 
to  the  old  church. 

The  Hamiltons  had  determined  on  Murray's  death.  Though 
the  duke  was  in  prison,  John,  the  archbishop,  the  constant  stirrer 
up  of  strife,  was  at  liberty,  and  he  was  popularly  supposed  to  be  the 
contriver  of  a  plot  against  the  life  of  the  regent.  Murray  was 
murdered  by  James  Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh,  who  shot  at  him 
as  he  was  riding  in  state  through  that  town  on  his  way  from 
Stirling  to  Edinburgh,  February  23,  1570.  This  foul  murder,  the 
third  which  had  disgraced  Scotland  within  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century,  was  a  great  misfortune  for  the  country,  for  Murray  had 
ruled  well  and  wisely;  he  had  put  down  the  Highlanders  and  the 
borderers,  and  had  enforced  justice  and  order  with  a  strong  hand. 
In  his  time  the  land  was  visited  by  a  famine  and  a  plague,  evils  for 
which  the  people  are  ever  apt  to  blame  their  rulers,  but  in  spite  of 
these  calamities  he  was  popular  during  his  life,  and  was  remem- 
bered after  his  death  as  the  Good  Regent, 

While  the  government  was  thus  without  a  head,  and  the 
country  was  in  confusion,  two  English  armies  invaded  Scotland  to 
punish  the  borderers  for  the  shelter  which  they  had  given  to  the 
leaders  of  the  late  rising  in  England.  One  of  these  armies  came 
north  as  far  as  the  Clyde  and  wasted  the  Hamilton  country.  Hith- 
erto the  queen's  party  had  been  chiefly  made  up  of  nobles 
v/ith  but  a  small  following,  but  this  attack  on  the  part  of  the 
English  aroused  the  old  hatred  of  England  and  drove  a  large  mass 
of  the  people  to  join  them.  The  choice  of  Lennox,  the  king's 
grandfather,  as  the  new  regent,  did  still  more  to  divide  the  nation, 
for  not  only  was  he  the  subject  of  Elizabeth  and  recommended  by 
her,  but  also,  when  he  came  to  Scotland,  it  was  as  joint  leader  of 
one  of  these  invading  armies.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  nation 
was  truly  divided  against  itself.  The  war  which  followed  was  the 
first  real  civil  war  in  the  annals  of  Scotland.  It  was  no  strife  of 
class  against  class,  or  of  one  chief  against  another,  but  a  war  in 
which  the  commons  were  severed  into  two  parties  by  the  great 


322  SCOTLAND 

1570-1572 

questions  of  loyalty,  national  honor,  and  religion.  Grange,  whom 
Murray  had  made  governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle,  declared  for  the 
queen,  and  Lethington,  who  was  there  in  ward  on  a  charge  of 
having  had  some  part  in  the  king's  murder,  followed  his  example. 

Dunbarton  castle,  the  strongest  in  the  kingdom,  was  the  chief 
strength  of  the  queen's  party,  and  in  it  was  the  moving  spirit  of  the 
Hamiltons,  John,  the  much  hated  and  feared  archbishop.  Both 
fell  during  this  regency.  Crawford  of  Jordanhill,  a  retainer  of 
Lennox,  took  the  castle  by  subtlety  with  but  a  handful  of  men.  He 
scaled  the  steep  rock  on  which  the  castle  is  built  under  cover  of  the 
night,  and  when  he  had  gained  the  highest  point  he  turned  the 
guns  on  the  garrison  below,  who  had  no  choice  left  but  to  give  in, 
April  2,  1 57 1.  Five  days  later  the  archbishop  was  hanged  at 
Stirling,  after  the  form  of  a  trial  had  been  hurried  through,  on  a 
charge  of  having  planned  the  murder  of  the  king  and  of  the 
regent. 

The  other  noteworthy  event  during  the  regency  of  Lennox 
was  the  holding  of  a  parliament,  for  the  first  time  since  1567.  It 
met  at  Stirling,  and  the  young  king,  who  lived  in  the  castle  under 
the  care  of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  was  himself  present.  While  the  regent 
and  all  the  leaders  of  his  party  were  thus  gathered  in  the  town, 
a  body  of  four  hundred  men,  sent  out  by  the  queen's  party  in  Edin- 
burgh Castle,  came  down  upon  them  suddenly,  swept  the  streets, 
and  captured  Morton  and  the  regent;  and  though  the  latter  was 
afterward  rescued,  he  had  been  mortally  wounded  in  the  scuffle, 
and  died  after  lingering  a  few  hours,  September  4,  1571.  It  was 
then  remembered  how  the  little  king  had  spied  a  hole  in  the  cloth 
with  which  the  board  whereon  he  sat  was  covered,  and,  trying  to 
poke  his  finger  into  it,  had  said,  "  There  is  a  hole  in  this  parlia- 
ment." This  was  looked  on  as  a  prophecy  of  the  violent  death  of 
the  regent,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  that  reputation  for  wisdom 
and  acuteness  which  clung  to  James  all  his  life. 

John  Erskine,  Earl  of  ]\Iar,  governor  of  Stirling,  was  chor.en 
regent  the  very  next  day.  As  the  queen's  party,  who  held  Edin- 
burgh, had  held  a  rival  parliament  in  her  name  in  the  Parliament 
House,  it  was  clear  that  all  efforts  must  be  made  to  get  the  castle 
out  of  their  hands.  Mar  therefore  began  the  siege,  and  open  war 
broke  out.  The  West,  the  North,  and  the  Border  were  for  the 
queen,  the  eastern  Lowlands  for  the  king ;  the  latter  looked  to  Eng- 
land for  help,  but  got  none;  the  former  appealed  to  France  with 


THE     REFORMATION  323 

1572-1573 

not  much  better  success.  After  much  useless  bloodshed,  a  truce  of 
two  months  was  agreed  on,  August  i,  1572. 

Under  Mar  episcopacy  was  set  up  again.  At  least  it  was 
settled  that  the  titles  and  dignities  of  bishops  and  archbishops  were 
to  stay  as  they  were  before  the  Reformation  till  the  king's  majority, 
but  they  were  shorn  of  their  old  authority,  and  were  to  be  subject 
to  the  General  Assembly,  which  now  managed  all  church  matters. 
The  people  thought  so  little  of  them  that  they  called  them  in 
mockery  "  Tulchan  "  bishops :  the  word  "  Tulchan "  meaning  a 
sham  calf  which  it  was  the  custom  to  place  before  a  cow  to  make 
her  give  milk  when  the  real  calf  had  been  taken  from  her.  About 
this  time  there  came  the  news  of  the  massacre  of  all  the  Protestants 
in  Paris  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day.  This  roused  a  general  horror 
for  Catholics  and  created  a  reaction  in  favor  of  Presbytery,  for  the 
Scots  wished  to  be  more  like  the  French  Protestants,  who  had  no 
bishops.  It  also  made  many  of  the  queen's  party  go  over  to  the 
other  side. 

Mar  died  after  being  little  more  than  a  year  in  office,  and 
Morton,  who  had  latterly  directed  everything,  was  chosen  regent 
in  his  place,  November  24,  1572. 

On  the  same  day  died  John  Knox,  who  for  thirteen  years  had 
been  the  leader  of  religious  reform  in  Scotland.  He  spent  his  life 
and  his  wonderful  talents  in  striving  for  what  he  believed  to  be 
truth  and  sound  doctrine.  One  of  the  finest  traits  in  his  charac- 
ter was  his  moral  courage,  which  enabled  him  to  speak  boldly  to 
those  who  stood  highest  in  rank  or  power.  To  this  Morton  him- 
self bore  witness,  saying,  as  he  looked  on  the  dead  body  of  Knox, 
"  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man."  His  zeal 
sometimes  led  him  to  turn  against  the  Catholics  their  own 
weapons  of  intolerance  and  persecution,  but  he  lived  in  times  when 
men  had  not  yet  found  out  that  it  was  best  to  let  one  another  alone 
in  the  matter  of  religion.  In  those  days  anyone  who  had  shown 
himself  tolerant  of  the  errors  of  others  would  have  been  looked  on 
either  as  a  hypocrite  or  as  an  unbeliever.  But  Knox  was  not  so 
much  opposed  to  bishops  and  to  a  set  form  of  prayer  as  his  follow- 
ers afterward  became.  He  drew  up  a  prayer-book  for  daily  use 
called  the  Book  of  Common  Order,  which  was  pretty  nearly  a  trans- 
lation of  the  book  of  the  church  at  Geneva,  and  was  what  he  had 
himself  used  when  ministering  to  the  English  Protestants  who  in 
the  reign  of  Mary  Tudor  had  taken  refuge  at  Frankfort. 


324  SCOTLAND 

1573-1578 

With  the  new  year  the  war  began  again.  Morton  was  now  in 
possession  of  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  he  held  a  meeting  of  the 
Estates  there.  But  the  castle  still  held  out,  and  it  was  only  by 
bringing  against  it  an  English  force  of  fifteen  hundred  men  that 
Elizabeth  had  at  last  sent  that  its  defenders  were  reduced  to  such 
straits  that  they  were  compelled  to  surrender.  Grange  gave  himself 
up  to  the  English  general  and  appealed  to  the  English  queen.  But 
she  either  could  not  or  would  not  protect  him.  His  gallant  defense 
of  the  castle  for  Mary  was  looked  on  as  treason  against  the  govern- 
ment of  James,  which  Elizabeth  had  in  a  manner  acknowledged. 
He  was  given  up  into  the  hands  of  Morton,  his  bitter  enemy,  and 
hanged  at  Edinburgh,  August  3,  1573,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
his  many  friends  to  save  him.  Brave,  gallant,  and  unselfish,  he  was 
distinguished  among  a  greedy  generation  by  his  contempt  alike  of 
money  and  of  place.  In  this  he  was  a  great  contrast  to  his  com- 
panion, the  clever,  unprincipled,  selfish  Lethington,  who  died  by 
his  own  hand. 

Morton  had  now  got  all  his  old  enemies  out  of  the  way,  but 
he  soon  made  more;  partly  by  his  avarice,  partly  by  the  firmness 
with  which  he  insisted  that  the  Crown  property  should  be  restored. 
He  offended  Argyle  by  making  him  give  back  some  Crown  jewels, 
and  by  trying  to  stop  a  feud  between  him  and  Athole  he  made 
enemies  of  them  both.  To  make  his  power  complete,  Morton 
longed  to  get  the  king  into  his  own  hands,  but  he  was  kept  apart 
in  Stirling,  under  the  care  of  Erskine  the  governor,  and  while 
there  Morton  had  no  more  power  over  him  than  any  of  the  other 
nobles.  He  tried  to  persuade  James,  who  was  now  twelve  years 
old,  that  he  was  old  enough  to  rule  alone,  but  Argyle  and  Athole, 
who  were  both  in  the  castle  at  the  time,  found  out  his  plan  and  out- 
witted him.  A  proclamation  was  suddenly  issued  by  them,  setting 
forth  that  the  king  would  now  take  the  government  into  his  own 
hands,  and  would  act  by  the  advice  of  a  council,  March  4,  1578.  A 
time  of  great  confusion  followed.  Morton,  who  at  first  had  seemed 
to  lay  down  his  power  with  a  good  grace,  before  long  was  up  in 
arms,  got  into  Stirling  Castle,  dispersed  the  new  council,  and  again 
directed  everything  just  as  he  pleased. 

About  this  time  Esme  Stuart,  Lord  of  Aubigny,  and  nephew 
of  the  late  Earl  of  Lennox,  came  from  France  and  became  a  great 
favorite  with  his  cousin  the  king.  Aubigny  was  stirred  up  by 
James  Stuart  of  Ochiltree,  another  favorite,  to  do  his  utmost  to 


THE     REFORMATION  325 

1578-1585 

turn  the  king  against  Morton,  whom  he  already  disliked.  At  length 
Ochiltree  accused  Morton  before  the  Council  of  having  been  a 
party  in  the  king's  murder,  and  on  this  charge  he  was  condemned 
and  beheaded  at  Edinburgh.  After  his  death  the  two  favorites 
rose  still  higher.  Aubigny  was  made  Duke  of  Lennox  and  Keeper 
of  Dunbarton  Castle,  and  a  royal  bodyguard  was  set  up  in  order 
to  give  him  the  dignity  of  commander.  Stuart,  whose  mother 
was  a  Hamilton,  was  raised  to  the  Earldom  of  Arran. 

Certain  of  the  old  nobles,  who  were  displeased  and  alarmed 
by  the  power  exercised  by  these  upstarts,  bound  themselves  together 
to  displace  them  both,  and  to  get  the  king  by  a  bond  into  their  own 
power.  The  Earl  of  Gowrie,  one  of  the  confederates,  invited  the 
king  to  the  castle  of  Ruthven,  There  he  was  seized,  and  Lennox 
was  banished.  The  king  was  in  captivity  nearly  a  year,  and  then 
escaped.  At  St.  Andrews  the  nobles  who  were  not  in  the  bond 
gathered  around  him  in  such  force  that  the  confederates  were  obliged 
to  yield. 

At  first  James  acted  moderately  and  wisely,  for  he  promised 
to  pardon  all  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  raid  of  Ruthven; 
but  when  Arran  got  back  his  old  power  over  him  he  turned  about 
and  declared  them  all  traitors,  who  must  submit  to  his  grace.  Upon 
this  most  of  them  fled  to  England,  but  Gowrie  submitted  to  the 
king  and  w^as  pardoned.  Arran  had,  however,  determined  on  his 
fall,  and  Gowrie  was  so  much  insulted  and  slighted  at  court  that 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  the  country.  Just  before  he  sailed 
he  heard  that  his  old  comrades  had  contrived  another  plot,  and  he 
delayed  his  setting  out  in  order  to  have  a  share  in  it.  Before  any- 
thing was  done,  news  of  it  got  abroad ;  Gowrie  was  seized  and, 
after  a  very  unjust  trial,  beheaded  at  Stirling.  The  other  conspira- 
tors made  off  to  England  again  and  were  outlawed,  and  their  estates 
were  forfeited. 

Arran's  triumph  did  not  last  long.  The  killing  of  an  English- 
man in  a  border  affair,  attributed  to  Arran,  was  the  signal  for  the 
banished  lords  to  return.  Joining  the  Hamiltons  and  Maxwells  on 
the  border,  they  came  to  Stirling  and  made  their  way  into  the 
presence  of  the  king,  who  was  forced  to  seem  pleased  to  see  tliem, 
as  they  had  eight  thousand  men  to  support  them,  November  4, 
1585.  A  parliament  was  called  soon  after,  in  which  three  im- 
portant pieces  of  l)usiness  were  done.  Cowrie's  children  were 
restored  to  the  honors   forfeited  by  the  treason  of  their  father; 


326  SCOTLAND 

1585-1588 

Arran  was  stripped  of  all  his  dignities,  and  a  new  league  was  made 
with  England. 

The  captive  queen,  whose  influence  in  the  affairs  of  her  own 
country  had  ceased  with  the  surrender  of  Edinburgh,  had,  during 
her  long  imprisonment,  been  the  cause  of  many  plots  against  the 
peace  of  England  and  the  life  of  Elizabeth,  For  her  share  in  Bab- 
ington's  Plot,  the  object  of  which  was  the  assassination  of  Eliza- 
beth, she  was  tried,  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to  death.  She 
was  beheaded  at  Fotheringhay,  February  8,  1587.  Though  James 
made  some  show  of  feelings  of  grief  and  anger  at  the  news  of  his 
mother's  death,  no  steps  were  taken  to  avenge  it,  and  the  matter 
soon  seemed  to  be  forgotten. 

As  James  was  now  of  age,  his  counselors  were  looking  about 
for  a  suitable  wife  for  him.  Frederick  II.,  King  of  Denmark,  had 
lately  sent  offering  to  pay  up  the  money  for  which  the  Orkney  and 
Shetland  Isles  had  been  given  in  pledge,  and  as  Scotland  had  no 
wish  to  give  them  back,  it  was  thought  that  the  difficulty  might 
be  overcome  by  choosing  one  of  his  daughters,  who  would  most 
likely  bring  the  islands  as  her  dowry.  This  proposal  was  agreed 
to  by  Frederick.  His  daughter  Anne  was  betrothed  to  James,  and 
Keith,  the  Earl  Marshal,  was  sent  to  Copenhagen  to  act  as  proxy 
for  the  king  in  the  marriage  ceremony  and  to  bring  home 
the  bride.  On  their  way  home  the  wedding  party  were  storm- 
stayed  and  obliged  to  put  into  a  Norwegian  port,  and  the  king,  to 
the  surprise  of  everyone,  suddenly  made  up  his  mind  to  go  himself 
to  fetch  his  bride.  He  joined  her  at  Upslo,  but  as  nothing  could 
make  him  brave  the  long  sea  voyage  again  till  the  winter  was  over, 
they  returned  together  to  Copenhagen,  and  did  not  come  to  Scot- 
land till  the  next  spring,  May  i,  1590. 

For  some  time  the  government  and  the  church  had  been  at 
variance  about  the  bisliops.  The  General  Assembly  of  1581  had 
declared  the  episcopal  order  to  be  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God, 
and  had  adopted  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline  as  the  rule  of  the 
government  of  the  church.  This  book  was  drawn  up  by  Andrew 
Melville,  wlio  had  succeeded  Knox  as  the  spiritual  leader  of  the 
reformed  cluirch.  He  was  a  zealous  Presbyterian,  and  it  was 
mainly  owing  to  him  that  the  Scottish  Church  adopted  that  form 
of  church  government.  The  Ruthven  lords  had  been  the  champions 
of  the  presbyterian  or  no-bishop  party,  and,  while  they  were  in 
power,  the  ministers  upheld  by  them  had  taken    more    and  more 


o 


is  '^  ^ 


-   oc    f=:  ^=    C  >^ 


c     ,^,    ^  1-;    ?- 


i  t,  -s  ^ 


K  :::  '^ 


THE     REFORjMATION  327 

1588-1592 

authority  upon  themselves.  In  theory  they  placed  the  church  far 
above  the  civil  power,  and  they  taught  that  the  chief  magistrate, 
the  king,  ought  to  be  subject  to  them  in  all  matters  of  conscience 
and  religion.  They  also  claimed  the  right  of  the  old  church  in 
interfering  with  people's  private  affairs.  Each  minister  looked  on 
himself  as  bishop  over  his  own  flock,  and  would  not  submit  to  again 
having  any  overseer  set  over  him.  But,  as  the  removal  of  the 
bishops  as  spiritual  peers  would  have  been  the  removal  of  one  of 
the  three  Estates — that  one,  too,  that  had  always  been  on  the  side 
of  the  Crown — and  as  their  existence  served  as  a  pretext  to  the 
nobles  for  drawing  their  revenues,  it  was  clearly  the  interest  both 
of  the  Crown  and  of  the  nobles  to  maintain  them.  In  1588  Philip 
of  Spain  fitted  out  a  great  fleet  for  the  invasion  of  England.  This 
caused  a  great  panic  throughout  Scotland.  The  people  feared  that 
Philip  might  conquer  England  and  bring  it  again  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Pope,  in  which  case  the  subjection  of  Scotland  must 
soon  follow.  The  Covenant  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  which  had  been  signed  in  1581,  was  renewed  and  signed 
all  over  the  land.  So  great  was  the  dread  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
that  the  people  looked  on  all  l)ishops  with  suspicion,  and  in  1592 
an  act  was  passed  by  which  the  whole  order  was  swept  away  and 
the  presbyterian  polity  established.  Thenceforth  the  church  was  to 
be  governed  by  a  series  of  courts,  tlie  members  of  which  were 
presbyters.  The  ministers  of  several  parishes  formed  a  presbytery, 
these  again  were  grouped  together  into  synods,  while  supreme  over 
all  was  the  General  Assembly,  composed  of  ministers  and  lay  elders 
from  the  several  presbyteries,  which  was  to  meet  once  a  year  at 
Edinburgh,  and  at  which  the  king  or  his  commissioner  was  to  be 
present. 

Still  a  large  party  adhered  to  the  old  church.  The  chiefs  of 
this  party  were  Huntly  in  the  North  and  the  Maxwells  on  the 
border.  They  were  always  suspected  of  planning  for  its  restora- 
tion, and,  as  the  king  could  not  or  would  not  proceed  against  them, 
he  was  supposed  to  favor  their  plans.  In  1592  eight  suspicious 
papers  were  seized  on  the  person  of  George  Kerr,  who  was  leaving 
Scotland  by  the  western  coast.  These  papers,  called  the  Spanish 
blanks,  were  signed  by  Huntly,  Errol,  and  Angus,  but  had  no  other 
writing  on  them.  Kerr,  after  being  put  to  the  torture,  declared 
that  these  blank  papers  were  to  be  filled  up  by  two  Jesuits  who 
were  commissioned  to  oft'er  the  services    of    the  nobles  who  had 


328  SCOTLAND 

1592-1600 

signed  them  to  the  King  of  Spain,  to  aid  him  in  the  reestabHsh- 
ment  of  the  old  rehgion.  This  discovery  filled  everyone  with 
horror.  Angus  was  seized ;  but  as  Huntly  retreated  to  his  own 
country  in  the  North,  Argyle,  his  rival  in  the  Highlands,  was  sent 
with  full  power  against  him.  Huntly  defeated  Argyle's  army,  but 
the  Catholic  party  was  too  weak  to  follow  up  the  victory,  and  in 
1597  Huntly  and  Errol  publicly  renounced  their  old  faith,  and 
joined  the  established  church. 

The  king  and  the  church  were  not  long  at  peace.  He  called 
certain  of  their  ministers  to  account  before  the  council  for  what 
they  had  said  in  the  pulpit.  The  ministers  looked  upon  this  inter- 
ference as  an  attack  on  their  privileges.  The  people  supported 
them,  and  the  result  was  a  riot,  so  serious  that  the  Court  had  to 
flee  to  Linlithgow.  Upon  this  the  king  threatened  to  take  away 
the  courts  of  justice  from  Edinburgh.  The  fear  of  this  damped 
the  spirit  of  the  mob,  and  after  the  return  of  the  Court  the  minis- 
ters who  had  withstood  the  king  fled  to  England.  The  Estates  soon 
after  passed  an  act  by  which  the  king  might  confer  on  any  minister 
the  title  of  bishop  or  abbot,  but  only  so  as  to  give  him  a  seat 
in  parliament;  the  title  was  not  to  imply  any  lordship  over  his 
brethren. 

On  the  morning  of  August  5,  1600,  as  James  was  setting  out 
hunting  from  Falkland  Palace,  he  was  met  by  Alexander  Ruthven, 
the  younger  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Gowrie,  who  told  him  wnth  a 
great  air  of  mystery  of  some  suspicious  circumstances,  and  begged 
him  to  come  to  Gowrie  House  in  Perth  to  see  him.  James  went, 
taking  with  him  ]\Iar,  Lennox,  and  about  twenty  other  gentlemen. 
After  dinner  Alexander  took  the  king  aside,  and,  when  his  attend- 
ants missed  him,  they  were  told  that  he  had  gone  back  to  Falkland. 
Tliey  were  preparing  to  follow  him  there  when  some  of  them 
heard  cries  from  a  turret.  They  recognized  the  king's  voice,  and 
they  presently  saw  his  head  thrust  out  of  a  window  calling  for 
help.  They  had  much  ado  to  make  their  way  to  him,  but  they 
found  him  at  last  in  a  small  room  struggling  with  Alexander, 
while  a  man  dressed  in  armor  was  looking  on.  iVlexander  Ruth- 
ven and  Gowrie  were  both  killed  in  the  scufi^e  which  followed.  A 
tumult  rose  in  the  town,  for  the  earl  had  been  Provost  and  was 
very  popular  with  the  townsfolk,  and  the  king  and  his  followers 
had  to  make  their  escape  by  the  river.  The  doom  of  traitors  was 
passed  on  the  dead  men,  and  their  name  was  proscribed,  but,  as  no 


THE     REFORMATION  329 

1600-1603 

accomplice  could  be  discovered,  it  was  hard  to  say  what  was  the 
extent  or  object  of  their  plot.  The  whole  affair  was  very  mysteri- 
ous, and  only  eight  years  later  were  some  letters  discovered  which 
threw  some  more  light  on  the  mystery.  They  revealed  a  plan  for 
bringing  some  prisoner,  who  was  not  named,  but  might  possibly 
be  the  king,  to  Fast  Castle.  The  man  in  whose  hands  the  letters 
were  discovered  was  found  guilty  of  treason,  and  was  put  to  death 
for  not  revealing  all  he  knew  about  the  plot  long  before. 

When  Elizabeth  died  James  was  the  nearest  heir  to  the  throne 
of  England  by  right  of  descent  from  Margaret,  elder  daughter  of 
Henry  VII.  But  her  right  had  been  passed  over  by  Henry  VIII., 
who  had  in  the  will  which  he  was  empowered  by  Parliament  to 
make  settled  the  succession  on  the  heirs  of  his  younger  sister, 
Mary.  As  it  was  politically  convenient  to  the  English  Privy  Coun- 
cil that  James  should  succeed  Elizabeth  on  her  death,  they  sent  off 
post  haste  to  summon  him  to  come  and  take  the  crown.  His  ques- 
tionable right  was  made  good  by  the  voice  of  the  people  in  his  first 
Parliament.  He  entered  London  May  6,  1603.  Hitherto  he  had 
had  less  money  and  less  power  than  almost  any  other  prince  in 
Europe ;  he  now  became  suddenly  one  of  the  richest  and  most  pow- 
erful among  them.  This  union  of  the  crowns  made  the  third 
break  in  the  history  of  Scotland.  The  gallant  struggle  for  freedom 
which  had  drawn  forth  all  the  energies  of  the  nation  during  the 
past  three  centuries  was  now  over.  It  was  now  to  be  united  to 
the  powerful  neiglibor  that  had  so  long  threatened  its  independence. 
The  representative  of  the  ancient  royal  Celtic  line,  which  the 
national  reverence  for  hereditary  royalty  had  upheld  unbroken' 
through  the  strain  of  seven  long  minorities,  now  became  king  of 
the  larger  and  riclier  kingdom  of  England,  which  had  been  ruled  by 
one  foreign  dynasty  after  another  ever  since  the  Norman  Conquest. 

In  Scotland  the  feudal  system  was  still  unshaken.  To  it  the 
great  barons  owed  their  power,  and  the  Reformation,  which  in 
England  had  strengthened  the  Crown,  had  in  Scotland  only  thrown 
more  wealth  and  more  power  into  the  hands  of  the  nobles.  Plitherto 
the  people  had  been  only  dependents  of  the  great  feudal  barons, 
whose  burdens  they  bore  in  return  for  their  protection.  Still  they 
could  not  have  been  very  badly  off,  for  in  Scotland  there  were  no 
peasant  wars,  as  in  France  and  England.  It  was  the  Reformation 
which  first  brought  them  out  as  a  separate  body  in  the  state.  Their 
condition  was  now  much  worse  than  it  had  formerly  been.     The 


330  SCOTLAND 

1557-1603 

Crown  brought  its  increased  power  to  bear  upon  the  nobles,  who  in 
their  turn,  slaves  and  flatterers  at  the  foreign  Court  and  tyrants 
at  home,  used  their  feudal  rights  for  the  oppression  of  the  people, 
who  could  hope  for  no  redress  from  their  absent  king. 

We  have,  in  this  chapter,  traced  the  progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  noted  the  changes  which  it  made  in  the  state  of  the 
nation.  Though  the  Reformation  did  not  begin  so  soon  in  Scot- 
land as  in  Germany  and  England,  it  made  more  striking  changes 
and  overthrew  the  old  church  more  completely  than  it  did  in  either 
of  those  counties.  It  first  gave  to  the  people  an  independent 
national  life.  Until  it  roused  them  to  separate  action,  they  had 
been  swayed  by  no  party  feelings,  but  had  blindly  followed  the  lead 
and  fought  in  the  feuds  of  their  feudal  superiors,  without  paying 
any  heed  to  the  cause  for  which  they  laid  down  their  lives.  The 
Reformation  also  broke  off  the  alliance  with  France  which  had 
subsisted  ever  since  the  War  of  Independence.  All  the  events  of 
this  period  are  closely  connected  with  the  change  of  religion,  and 
it  is  marked  by  more  civil  war,  more  bloodshed,  more  crimes  of 
violence,  more  party  strife,  more  treachery  and  wrong  and  robbery, 
than  any  other  period  in  the  history  of  Scotland.  It  was  the  bad 
faith  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  which  first  drove  the  reformers  to  take 
up  arms  in  defense  of  their  opinions.  Under  their  own  native 
queen  they  hoped  to  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience,  and  as  they  looked 
to  her  to  redress  their  grievances  they  welcomed  her  return  with 
much  loyal  feeling.  By  the  craftiness  and  dissimulation  of  her 
policy  in  public  affairs,  and  by  the  scandals  of  her  private  life,  she 
changed  their  loyal  affection  into  loathing  and  contempt,  and 
finally  forfeited  the  Crown.  During  the  long  minority  which  fol- 
lowed, the  country  was  desolated  by  a  civil  war,  and  the  Crown 
was  impoverished  by  the  grasping  greediness  of  the  nobles.  \Mien 
the  king  came  of  age,  he  showed  himself  quite  unequal  to  the  task 
of  ruling  and  uniting  the  different  rival  factions  in  the  church  and 
in  the  state,  and  allowed  himself  to  be  governed  by  one  worthless 
favorite  after  another.  Nor  were  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  this 
period  at  all  more  settled  than  the  secular.  The  form  of  church 
government  was  changed  four  times  before  the  Presbyterian  polity 
was  finally  established  in  1592.  The  lands  of  the  old  church  had 
been  seized  by  the  most  worthless  of  the  nobles  instead  of  being 
set  apart  for  the  support  of  the  new  church,  so  that  the  ministers 
could  with   difficulty  secure  a  bare  subsistence.      During  such   an 


THE     REFORMATION  331 

1557-1603 

unhappy  state  of  affairs  there  could  be  little  social  or  intellectual 
development.  Tliere  were,  however,  among  the  reformers  many 
men  distinguished  for  their  learning  and  brilliant  talents.  Of 
these  the  most  conspicuous  were  George  Buchanan,  tutor  to  the 
young  king,  who  wrote  a  fabulous  history  of  Scotland  and  other 
books  in  very  elegant  Latin,  and  John  Knox,  who  wrote  a  history 
of  the  Reformation  remarkable  for  the  vigor,  clearness,  and  sim- 
plicity of  its  style.  Sir  James  Melville,  who  was  also  an  accom- 
plished courtier,  and  stood  high  in  favor  both  with  Mary  and  with 
James,  gives  an  excellent  picture  of  these  disturbed  times  in  his 
very  entertaining  memoirs.  The  Prayer  Book  of  the  Reformed 
Church  was  also  translated  into  Gaelic.  It  was  published  in  1567, 
and  was  the  first  Celtic  book  that  had  ever  yet  been  printed. 


Chapter    VII 

THE  UNION   OF  THE  CROWNS.     1603-1707 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  union  of  the  Crowns  the  border 
laws  on  each  side  were  repealed,  and  it  was  settled  that  sub- 
jects of  either  country  born  after  the  union  should  no  longer 
be  looked  on  as  aliens  in  the  other,  but  should  have  the  undisputed 
right  of  inheriting  property  in  either.  A  Lord  High  Commissioner 
was  appointed  to  represent  the  king  in  Scotland,  and  there  was 
some  talk  of  a  union  of  the  parliaments,  but  it  was  not  carried 
out. 

The  great  desire  of  the  king  was  to  bring  the  church  of  Scot- 
land into  conformity  with  the  church  of  England.  To  bring  this 
about,  he  summoned  some  of  the  ministers  to  England,  in  the  hope 
that  he  should  be  able  to  persuade  them  to  agree  with  him.  ATel- 
ville,  their  leader,  spoke  out  so  plainly  against  episcopacy  before 
the  bishops  in  the  Privy  Council  that  he  was  sent  to  the  Tower  and 
finally  banished.  But  the  king  carried  his  point,  and  in  1606  the 
Estates  passed  an  act  for  the  restoration  of  the  bishops.  No  acts 
of  church  government  were  in  future  to  be  lawful  without  their 
consent,  and  though  the  General  Assembly  was  still  to  go  on,  its 
power  was  to  be  very  much  lessened.  As  the  old  line  of  Scottish 
bishops  had  died  out,  John  Spottiswood,  Andrew  Lamb,  and  Gavin 
Hamilton  were  consecrated  by  English  bishops  at  London  House 
to  the  bishoprics  of  Glasgow,  Brechin,  and  Galloway.  To  avoid 
all  dispute  about  the  old  claim  of  supremacy,  neither  of  the  English 
archbishops  was  present.  But  these  bishops  had  a  very  hard  time 
of  it,  for  they  did  not  get  the  lands  of  their  sees  restored  to  them 
as  had  been  promised,  and  many  of  them  had  hard  work  to  get  a 
living  at  all.  In  i6to  two  Courts  of  High  Commission  were  set 
up.  These  courts  were  afterward  united  into  one,  but  as  this 
court  was  under  the  control  of  the  Court  of  Session,  it  could  never 
be  so  tyrannical  as  the  Court  of  High  Commission  in  England. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  reign  James  had  tried  to  do  some- 
thing to  improve  the  state  of  the  Highlands,     To  this  end  three 

332 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  333 

1603-1621 

new  burghs  were  founded,  and  the  lands  of  all  chiefs  who  could 
not  show  written  titles  were  declared  forfeited.  These  lands  were 
given  to  Lowland  colonists,  who  were,  however,  soon  glad  to  give 
up  any  attempt  at  settling  among  their  lawless  neighbors.  The 
MacGregors,  whose  district  lay  close  on  the  Lowland  border,  had 
shown  themselves  the  most  savage  and  lawless  of  all  the  Highland 
clans.  Argyle  was  commissioned  to  hunt  them  down,  but  they 
beat  the  Lowlanders  with  great  slaughter  in  a  battle  at  Glen  Fruin 
in  1604.  Their  chief  was  afterward  taken  and  hanged,  and  the 
name  proscribed,  but  that  was  only  breaking  the  power  of  one  clan, 
while  the  others  remained  as  formidable  as  ever.  To  prevent  such 
outbreaks  in  future  Argyle  and  Huntly  were  intrusted  with  full 
powers  to  carry  on  the  planting  of  the  Highlands.  Three  condi- 
tions were  required  of  those  chiefs  who  were  suffered  to  stay  in 
possession  of  their  lands:  that  they  should  give  sureties  for  the 
good  order  of  their  clans ;  promise  to  let  their  land  for  a  fixed  rent 
in  money  instead  of  all  other  exactions;  and  agree  to  send  their 
children  to  school  in  the  Lowlands.  These  changes  not  only 
strengthened  the  government,  but  made  united  action  on  the  part 
of  the  clans  more  difficult. 

The  king  paid  only  one  visit  to  Scotland  after  his  accession 
to  the  throne  of  England.  He  then  gave  great  offense  by  intro- 
ducing ceremonial  vestments  at  the  service  in  his  own  chapel. 
These  vestments  and  other  ornaments  which  were  customary  in 
England  were  hateful  to  the  Presbyterians.  The  passing  of  the 
Five  Articles  by  a  General  Assembly  held  at  Perth  completed 
their  dismay,  and  plainly  showed  the  king's  intention  to  impose 
upon  them  the  ceremonies  which  they  so  much  disliked.  By  these 
articles  the  private  administration  of  the  sacraments  was  allowed, 
all  persons  were  enjoined  to  kneel  at  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  to  bring  their  children  to  the  bishops  for  confirmation,  and 
to  observe  the  five  great  festivals  of  the  Christian  church  as 
holidays. 

The  poverty  of  their  country  and  the  love  of  adventure  had 
made  the  Scots  from  the  earliest  times  ever  ready  to  seek  their 
fortunes  abroad.  They  had  won  themselves  renown  as  soldiers  or 
traders  in  nearly  all  the  countries  of  the  Old  World,  but  they  had 
not  as  yet  any  colony  of  their  own  in  the  new  one.  Hitherto  these 
emigrants,  though  they  were  called  Scots,  had  been  chielly  Saxons 
from  the  Lowlands,  but  in  the  beginning  of  this  reign  bodies  of 


334  SCOTLAND 

1621-1625 

Celts  had  gone  back  to  the  original  Scotia,  and  in  Ulster,  their  old 
home,  they  won  back  settlements  from  the  kindred  Celtic  race  who 
now  looked  on  them  as  intruders.  But  while  some  of  the  wander- 
ers thus  went  back  to  the  old  country,  others  were  founding  a 
New  Scotland  beyond  the  sea.  This,  the  third  land  to  which  the 
wandering  people  gave  its  name,  was  called  by  the  Latin  form  of 
the  name,  Nova  Scotia.  It  was  granted  by  a  royal  charter  to  Sir 
\\'illiam  Alexander,  afterward  Earl  of  Stirling,  the  projector  of 
this  scheme  of  emigration  in  1621.  This  new  settlement  was  di- 
vided into  one  thousand  parts,  and  every  adventurer  who  was 
willing  to  brave  the  hardships  of  an  uncleared  country,  and  resist 
the  encroachments  of  the  neighboring  settlers,  was  rewarded  with 
the  rank  and  title  of  baronet.  About  the  same  time,  too,  the  Low- 
landers  were  encouraged  to  go  over  to  the  north  of  Ireland  and  to 
take  up  the  lands  from  which  the  Irish  chiefs  had  been  driven.  As 
the  soil  there  was  much  better  than  that  which  they  had  left,  they 
gladly  agreed  to  the  change,  and  passed  over  in  great  numbers, 
more  than  ten  thousand  going  in  two  years. 

On  March  27,  1625,  the  king  died.  He  had  governed  Scotland 
during  his  twenty-two  years  of  absence  with  a  much  firmer  hand 
than  in  the  troubled  time  of  his  personal  rule.  He  had  then  been 
quite  at  the  mercy  of  his  ministers  and  of  the  nobles.  The  wealth 
and  power  of  his  larger  kingdom  made  him  now  able  to  deal  with 
the  smaller  one  pretty  much  as  he  liked,  and  the  nobles  were  too 
eagerly  seeking  favor  and  place  at  the  richer  court  to  be  willing 
to  risk  the  loss  of  them  by  opposing  his  will.  James  was  quite 
unlike  all  his  forefathers.  Lie  had  good  abilities  and  an  unusual 
amount  of  learning,  besides  a  good  deal  of  common  sense  and 
shrewdness,  which  he  sometimes  made  use  of,  but  his  repulsive 
appearance  and  manners,  and  his  want  of  self-reliance,  exposed 
him  to  ridicule  and  contempt.  He  had  none  of  the  courage,  high 
spirit,  graceful  tastes,  and  ready  wit  that  spread  a  veil  over  the 
faults  and  vices  of  his  ancestors.  Yet  he  alone  escaped  the  tragic 
fate  that  seemed  the  doom  of  all  the  Stuart  line,  and  was  singled 
out  from  among  them  for  an  almost  fairy-like  change  and  advance 
of  fortune. 

Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  James  as  king  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
had  even  more  exalted  ideas  than  his  father  of  the  power  of  the 
]jrer(jgative.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Scots  to  take  the  lead  and  set 
an  example  to  the  English  in  resisting  his  arbitrary  measures.     Be- 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  335 

1625-1638 

fore  he  had  been  a  year  on  the  throne  it  was  clear  that  he  meant  to 
carry  out  his  father's  plan  of  making-  the  Scottish  church  as  like  the 
English  church  as  possible.  He  issued  a  proclamation  recalling  all 
the  church  lands  which  were  in  the  hands  of  laymen,  whether  they 
had  been  granted  by  the  Crown  or  not.  The  holders  protested 
against  this  injustice,  and  at  last  a  compromise  was  made  by  which 
they  agreed  to  give  up  part  of  the  lands  they  held  on  condition  of 
having  their  claim  to  the  rest  made  good. 

In  1633  Charles  came  to  Scotland  and  was  crowned  with 
great  pomp  in  the  Abbey  church  of  Holyrood.  The  vestments  that 
were  worn  on  this  occasion  by  the  clergy  gave  great  offense  to  the 
people.  Their  discontent  was  increased  by  an  order  from  the  king 
enjoining  their  own  ministers  to  wear  surplices,  and  the  bishops 
to  wear  rochets  and  sleeves,  instead  of  the  Geneva  cloak,  as  hereto- 
fore. While  Charles  was  in  Scotland  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  was 
held,  in  which  he  met  with  no  opposition,  owing  to  a  new  arrange- 
ment in  choosing  the  Lords  of  the  Articles.  Formerly  this  com- 
mittee had  consisted  of  eight  members  from  each  Estate  chosen  by 
their  own  peers;  but  now  the  bishops  were  first  chosen,  they  again 
chose  the  barons,  and  barons  and  bishops  together  chose  the  com- 
mons, so  that  all  those  chosen  were  really  the  allies  of  the  bishops. 
A  supplication  was  drawn  up  to  remonstrate  with  the  king  about 
this  interference,  but,  instead  of  taking  it  in  good  part,  Charles 
was  very  angry,  treated  their  remonstrance  as  a  political  offense, 
and  put  the  Lord  Balmerinoch,  who  had  revised  the  supplication 
which  was  presented  to  him,  in  prison.  He  was  afterward  par- 
doned, but  this  did  not  make  the  king  any  more  popular,  as  it  was 
thought  that  he  had  only  liberated  Balmerinoch  from  fear  and  not 
from  good-will.  While  in  Scotland  he  founded  a  new  bishopric  at 
Edinburgh,  which  had  formerly  formed  part  of  the  diocese  of  St. 
Andrews. 

The  discontent  and  distrust  of  the  people  which  had  been 
roused  by  the  introduction  of  vestments,  by  the  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  the  bishops,  and  by  the  appointment  of  the  primate  as  chan- 
cellor, were  now  brought  to  a  head  by  the  appearance  of  a  Book  of 
Canons,  or  rules  for  the  government  of  the  church.  This  book 
they  were  called  on  to  accept  in  place  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  on 
the  authority  of  the  king  alone,  unconfirmed  by  the  Estates,  and  not 
long  after  the  king  attempted  to  change  their  form  of  worship  as 
well.     Through  the  inllucnce  of  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 


336  SCOTLAND 

1637-1638 

a  Litiirg-y  was  drawn  up  on  the  plan  of  the  first  book  of  Edward  VI. 
Vrorn  this  Liturgy  the  Scottish  clergy  were  commanded  by  the  king 
to  read  prayers  in  the  churclies,  instead  of  from  the  book  of  Com- 
mon Order,  which  was  still  in  general  use. 

The  imposition  of  this  book  roused  the  old  national  jealousy. 
The  people  thought  that  to  have  an  English  service  book  forced 
upon  them  would  be  a  mark  of  subjection ;  and  on  the  day  named 
by  the  king  for  bringing  it  into  use,  July  i6,  1637,  when  the  Dean 
of  Edinburgh  tried  to  read  the  prayers  from  it  in  St.  Giles's  Church, 
a  riot  broke  out.  Stools  and  books  were  thrown  at  the  Dean,  the 
Archbishop,  and  the  Bishop  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  escaping  out  of  the  hands  of  the  mob.  And  this  tumult 
was  but  a  sign  of  the  common  feeling  throughout  the  country.  The 
king  was  highly  incens.ed  and  ordered  the  offenders  to  be  brought 
to  punishment,  and  the  use  of  the  Liturgy  to  be  enforced.  Number- 
less petitions  against  it  from  all  ranks  of  the  people  poured  in  on 
the  Privy  Council,  or  were  sent  up  to  London  to  the  king,  while 
Edinburgh  was  thronged  with  the  petitioners  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  waiting  for  the  answer  which  they  hoped  would  be  favor- 
able. No  answer  was  given  to  them,  but  the  king  issued  a 
proclamation  ordering  them  all  to  return  to  their  homes,  and 
threatening  to  remove  the  courts  from  Edinburgh  to  Linlithgow  if 
the  disturbance  continued,  as  had  been  done  in  the  late  reign.  But 
this  had  no  effect.  The  bishops  and  the  other  members  of  the 
Council  were  mobbed,  and  the  supplicants  joined  in  a  common 
petition  to  the  king,  called  the  Great  Supplication. 

The  Council  finding  it  impossible  to  treat  with  a  turbulent  mob 
which  increased  instead  of  diminishing,  persuaded  the  malcontents 
to  choose  representatives  to  act  in  their  names,  four  from  each 
class — nobles,  lesser  barons,  clergy,  and  burgesses.  The  rest  were 
to  return  peaceably  to  their  several  homes.  But  this  committee, 
known  as  the  Tables,  gave  the  Council  more  trouble  than  the 
unruly  mob  had  done,  for  they  made  their  w^ay  into  the  Council 
chamber,  insisted  on  debating  there,  and  demanded  that  the  bishops 
should  be  turned  out. 

Still  the  king  would  not  give  in,  and  he  met  a  less  submissive 
protest  on  the  part  of  his  subjects  by  another  threatening  proclama- 
tion. On  this  in  1638  the  Tables  renewed  the  Covenant,  with  a 
clause  added  to  it  aimed  at  the  bishops.  At  the  last  renewal  of  the 
Covenant,  only  notable  persons  had  put  their  names  to  it,  but  this 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  337 

1638-1639 

time  it  was  signed  by  everyone  throughout  the  land,  rich  and  poor 
ahke.  There  was  the  greatest  excitement  and  enthusiasm  about  it 
all  over  the  country,  and  from  this  time  the  popular  party  became 
known  as  the  Covenanters. 

A  few  months  later  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  came  to  Scot- 
land as  Commissioner  with  full  power,  it  was  said,  to  settle  every- 
thing. The  demands  of  the  Covenanters  were  that  the  Court  of 
High  Commission,  the  Canons  and  the  Liturgy  should  all  be  abol- 
ished, and  that  a  free  Assembly  and  a  free  Parliament  should  be 
summoned.  But  Hamilton,  acting  on  the  orders  given  him,  kept 
putting  them  off  with  promises  till  the  king  should  be  ready  to  put 
them  down  by  force,  when  suddenly  the  king  turned  about,  prom- 
ised all  they  asked,  and  agreed  that  the  Assembly  should  be  called, 
and  that  the  bishops  should  be  tried  by  it. 

The  Assembly  met  in  the  Cathedral  Church  at  Glasgow, 
November  21,  1638.  Hamilton  opened  it  as  the  Royal  Commis- 
sioner. But  after  a  few  days,  when  the  attack  on  the  bishops  began, 
he  withdrew  and  ordered  the  members  to  disperse.  They  paid  no 
heed  to  this  order,  but  went  on  with  the  trial  of  the  bishops,  who 
were  all  deposed  and  eight  of  them  excommunicated.  The  Canons 
and  the  Liturgy  were  then  rejected,  and  all  acts  of  the  Assemblies 
held  since  1606  were  annulled. 

In  the  North,  where  Huntly  was  the  king's  lieutenant,  the 
Covenant  had  not  been  received,  and  the  Tables  resolved  to  en- 
force it  with  the  sword.  Scotland  was  now  full  of  trained  soldiers 
just  come  back  from  Germany,  where  they  had  learned  to  fight  in 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  as  plenty  of  money  had  been  collected 
among  the  Covenanters,  an  army  was  easily  raised.  Their  banner 
bore  the  motto,  "  For  Religion,  the  Covenant,  and  the  Country," 
and  their  leader  was  James  Graham,  Earl  of  Montrose,  one  of  the 
most  zealous  among  the  champions  of  the  cause.  Aberdeen,  Hunt- 
ly's  capital,  dared  make  no  resistance.  But  in  the  first  brush  of 
actual  war  in  the  king's  party,  the  Cavaliers,  or  ]\Ialignants,  as  their 
opponents  called  them,  had  the  advantage.  In  this  action,  called 
the  Trot  of  Turriff,  the  first  blood  was  shed  in  the  great  Civil  War. 
The  Cavaliers  were  the  first  to  draw  the  sword.  Though  Huntly 
had  been  taken  out  of  the  w^ay  by  his  removal  to  Edinburgh,  his 
two  sons  supplied  his  place  and  called  out  the  Highlanders.  Aber- 
deen changed  hands,  and  again  Montrose  was  sent  to  subdue  the 
North  before  the  expected  struggle  with   England  should  begin. 


SCOTLAND 

1639-1640 

At  the  Bridge  of  Dee  he  defeated  the  MaHgnants,  and  once  more 
entered  Aberdeen  in  triumph.  Just  after  this  entry  the  news  was 
brought  that  peace  had  been  made  between  the  king  and  the  other 
army  of  the  Covenant  on  the  border,  June,  1639. 

While  Montrose  had  been  thus  busy  for  the  Covenant  in  the 
North,  the  king  had  been  making  ready  to  put  down  his  rebellious 
Scottish  subjects  with  the  sword.  Early  in  May  a  fleet  entered  the 
Forth  under  the  command  of  Hamilton.  But  the  Tables  took  pos- 
session of  the  strongholds,  and  seized  the  ammunition  which  had 
been  laid  in  for  the  king.  They  then  raised  another  army  of  22,000 
foot  and  1200  horse,  and  placed  at  its  head  Alexander  Leslie,  a 
veteran  trained  in  the  German  war.  Their  army  they  sent  south- 
ward to  meet  the  English  host  which  the  king  was  bringing  to 
reduce  Scotland.  The  two  armies  faced  each  other  on  opposite 
banks  of  the  Tweed.  The  Scots  were  skillfully  posted  on  Dunse 
Law,  a  hill  commanding  the  northern  road.  To  pass  them  without 
fighting  was  impossible,  and  to  fight  would  have  been  almost  cer- 
tain defeat.  The  king  seeing  this  agreed  to  treat.  By  a  treaty 
called  the  "  Pacification  of  Berwick,"  it  was  settled  that  the  ques- 
tions at  issue  between  the  king  and  the  Covenanters  should  be  put 
to  a  free  Assembly,  that  both  armies  should  be  disbanded,  and  that 
the  strongholds  should  be  restored  to  the  king,  June  9,  1639. 

The  Assembly  which  met  at  Edinburgh  repeated  and  approved 
all  that  had  been  done  at  Glasgow.  When  the  Estates  met  for  the 
first  time  in  the  New  Parliament  House,  June  2,  1640,  they  went 
still  further,  for  they  not  only  confirmed  the  acts  of  the  Assemblies, 
but  ordered  everyone  to  sign  the  Covenant  under  pain  of  civil  pen- 
alties. Now  for  the  first  time  they  acted  in  open  defiance  of  the 
king,  to  whom  hitherto  they  had  professed  the  greatest  loyalty  and 
submission.  Three  times  had  they  been  adjourned  by  the  king, 
who  had  also  refused  to  see  the  Commissioners  whom  they  sent  up 
to  London.  Now  they  met  in  spite  of  him,  and,  as  in  former  times 
of  troubles  and  difficulties,  they  appealed  to  France  for  help.  When 
this  intrigue  with  the  French  was  found  out,  the  Lord  Loudon,  one 
of  their  Commissioners,  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  and  the  English 
Parliament  was  summoned  to  vote  supplies  for  putting  down  the 
Scots  by  force  of  arms.  But  by  this  time  the  English  were  begin- 
ning to  see  that  the  cause  of  the  Scots  was  the  cause  of  freedom. 
There  was  much  difficulty  in  raising  an  army  to  march  against 
them,  and  when  raised  it  was  discontented  and  mutinous. 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  339 

1640-1644 

As  for  the  Scots,  they  mustered  stronger  than  before,  and  on 
August  20,  1640,  they  crossed  the  Tweed  and  entered  England. 
At  Newburn  they  defeated  a  body  of  EngHsh,  and  crossing  the 
Tyne,  marched  on  to  Newcastle,  which  yielded  to  them  without 
offering  resistance.  They  then  took  Durham,  Tynemouth,  and 
Shields  without  a  struggle.  Meanwhile  news  came  from  Scotland 
that  the  two  great  strongholds  of  the  East  and  of  the  West,  Edin- 
burgh and  Dunbarton,  had  again  fallen  into  their  hands. 

Once  more  they  sent  to  the  king,  who  was  then  at  York,  a 
supplication  in  which  they  declared  that  all  they  wanted  was  satis- 
faction to  their  just  demands.  The  king  laid  the  matter  before  a 
great  council  of  peers  which  he  had  called  at  York.  By  their  advice 
it  was  decided  to  treat  with  the  Scots.  Eight  Commissioners  from 
their  army  came  to  Ripon,  and  the  treaty  which  w^as  begun  there 
was  not  ended  until  nearly  a  year  afterward  at  London.  All  that 
they  asked  was  granted,  and  they  were  promised  three  hundred 
thousand  pounds  to  defray  the  expenses  of  this  war,  into  which 
they  said  they  had  been  driven.  The  armies  were  then  disbanded, 
and  peace  seemed  to  be  restored.  The  king  came  to  Scotland  once 
more,  and  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  was  held  in  which  he  let  the 
members  have  their  own  way  in  everything.  He  also  confirmed 
the  right  of  the  Estates  to  meet  once  every  three  years,  and  fixed 
the  next  meeting  for  June,  1644. 

This  seeming  peace  was  but  the  lull  before  the  storm,  and 
before  one  year  had  passed  the  English  had  followed  the  example 
set  them  by  the  Scots  in  resisting  the  unlawful  exactions  of  the 
king;  the  Long  Parliament  had  brought  his  minister  Strafford,  the 
chief  agent  of  his  despotism,  to  the  scaffold,  and  had  called  on 
tlie  people  to  arm  in  defense  of  their  rights  and  liberties.  When  the 
great  Civil  War  began  in  earnest,  each  side  was  eager  to  secure 
the  help  of  the  fine  army  which  the  Scots  had  at  their  com- 
mand. 

Religious  opinion  decided  the  matter.  The  Parliament,  which 
was  as  much  opposed  to  episcopacy  as  the  Scots  were,  adopted  the 
solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  ordered  everyone  to  sign  it, 
and  by  so  doing  induced  the  Scots  to  join  them.  The  army  was 
raised  again,  and  put  under  the  command  of  the  two  Leslies,  Alex- 
ander, now  Earl  of  Leven,  and  his  nephew  David,  who  soon  proved 
the  better  soldier  of  the  two.  A  second  time  they  entered  England, 
January  19,  1644,  '^^^'^  leaving  a  part  of  their  force  to  besiege  New- 


340  SCOTLAND 

1644-1647 

castle  marclied  on  into  Yorkshire,  and  joined  the  troops  of  the 
ParHament  in  time  to  share  their  victory  at  Marston  Moor. 
Newcastle  was  taken  by  storm,  October  19. 

Meanwhile  Montrose,  whose  zeal  for  the  Covenant  had  now 
changed  into  zeal  for  the  king,  was  taking  advantage  of  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Covenanting  force  in  England  to  win  back  the  North 
for  Charles  with  an  anny  of  Celts  alone.  It  was  the  first  time  that 
the  Highlanders  had  been  turned  to  account  in  regular  w^ar.  Hith- 
erto they  had  been  thought  only  capable  of  preying  upon  one 
another,  but  now,  under  a  general  who  knew  how  to  handle  them, 
they  did  wonders.  The  Lowlanders  w'ho  had  hastily  mustered  to 
oppose  them  were  beaten  at  Tippermuir.  Then  in  a  series  of  rapid 
movements,  Montrose  took  several  towns,  overran  the  country, 
and  defeated  the  Covenanters.  Thus  in  a  wonderfully  short  time 
he  won  back  nearly  the  whole  country  for  the  king.  But  the  secret 
of  his  success  had  lain  in  the  rapid  marches  and  sudden  attacks 
that  kept  his  men  busy.  When  the  fighting  was  over,  the  High- 
landers, as  was  their  wont,  went  off  in  large  numbers  to  take 
home  their  spoil.  In  this  way  his  army  was  diminished.  David 
Leslie,  who  had  been  summoned  home  to  oppose  him,  brought  some 
cavalry  from  the  southern  army  against  his  w^eakened  force,  and 
won  a  complete  victory  at  Philiphaugh,  near  Selkirk,  September 
12,  1645.  Montrose  retreated  with  the  small  remnant  that  w^as  left 
to  him,  but  he  found  it  impossible  to  reassemble  his  scattered  force. 
His  campaign  had  lasted  little  more  than  a  year,  and  a  few  months 
later  the  king,  who  had  thrown  himself  on  the  protection  of  the 
Scottish  army  at  Newark,  ordered  him  to  lay  down  his  arms. 
IMontrose  obeyed  and  left  the  country. 

While  the  Scottish  army  was  lying  before  Newark,  Charles, 
whose  cause  was  now  nearly  hopeless,  secretly  left  Oxford,  where 
he  was  besieged  by  the  army  of  the  Parliament,  and  sought  protec- 
tion in  the  camp  of  the  Scots.  A  few  days  afterward  Newark  sur- 
rendered, and  they  returned  with  the  king  to  Newcastle.  He 
stayed  in  their  hands  eight  months.  During  this  time,  though  they 
behaved  toward  him  w4th  respect  and  courtesy,  he  was  really  their 
prisoner,  and  they  were  busy  treating  with  the  Parliament  for  the 
terms  of  his  surrender.  If  he  had  turned  Presbyterian  and  signed 
the  Covenant,  no  doubt  they  would  have  protected  him,  but  after 
many  arguments  with  Plenderson,  a  noted  divine  of  their  party,  he 
still  remained  unconvinced.     In  the  end  they  agreed  to  leave  Eng- 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  841 

1647-1648 

land  on  payment  of  400,000/.  arrears  of  pay  that  were  due  to  them. 
When  they  returned  to  their  own  country  they  left  the  king  to  the 
mercy  of  the  English  Parliament. 

A  few  months  later,  when  Charles  was  a  prisoner  at  Caris- 
brooke,  he  made  a  secret  treaty  with  the  moderate  party  in  Scot- 
land, to  the  effect  that,  if  they  would  help  him  to  win  back  his 
power,  he  would  confirm  the  Covenant  and  would  make  a  trial  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  England.  On  this  the  Committee  of 
Estates,  in  whose  hands  the  government  was,  raised  an  army  and 
sent  it  into  England,  with  Hamilton,  who  had  been  created  a  duke, 
at  its  head.  They  were  defeated  at  Preston  by  Oliver  Cromwell, 
lieutenant-general  of  the  parliamentary  army.  The  duke  marched 
on  to  Uttoxeter.  There  he  and  his  army  laid  down  their  arms,  and 
yielded  themselves  prisoners,  August  25,  1648.  But  the  extreme 
party  in  Scotland  were  very  wroth  against  the  Engagers,  as  they 
called  those  who  had  m.ade  this  "  engagement "  with  the  king. 
They  thought  that  the  taking  of  the  Covenant  by  the  king  was  a 
mere  pretense,  and  that  Hamilton's  expedition  was  a  sinful  helping 
of  the  Malignants.  A  change  in  the  government  was  the  result. 
Argyle,  the  head  of  the  extreme  Covenanters,  raised  his  followers, 
while  from  the  Western  Lowlands,  which  were  just  waking  to  zeal 
for  the  Covenant,  a  body  of  men,  with  Lord  Eglinton  at  their  head, 
marched  on  Edinburgh.  This  was  called  the  Whiggamore's  Raid, 
from  Whig,  a  word  used  in  the  Westland  for  urging  on  horses. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  word  AMiig,  which  gradually  became  the 
nickname  of  a  political  party.  Argyle  and  his  party  came  to  terms 
with  Cromwell,  and  formed  a  new  Committee  of  Estates.  Crom- 
well then  marched  to  Edinburgh,  and  made  them  give  him  an  as- 
surance that  none  of  the  Engagers  should  be  allowed  to  take  any 
part  in  the  government.  By  the  y\ct  of  Classes  which  was  then 
passed,  all  profane  persons  and  enemies  of  the  Covenant  were  like- 
wise shut  out  from  holding  office. 

The  Scots  now  hoped  to  see  their  church  and  their  Covenant 
adopted  over  all  three  kingdoms.  In  this  hope  they  were  disap- 
pointed, for  the  most  of  the  parliamentary  party  were  Independents, 
who  had  no  idea  of  exchanging  the  tyranny  of  bishops  for  that  of 
presbyters.  An  assembly  of  divines  met  at  Westminster,  June  12, 
1643,  to  settle  religious  matters.  They  adopted  the  Covenant,  and 
tlie  Scots  in  return  accepted  their  directory  of  public  worship,  and 
the  Confession  of  Faith  drawn  up  by  them  in  place  of  their  own 


342  SCOTLAND 

1648-1650 

Books  of  Discipline  and  Common  Order,  But  though  the  Cove- 
nant was  thus  nominally  accepted  in  England,  the  different  English 
sects  were  allowed  far  more  liberty  than  the  strict  Covenanters 
thought  right. 

On  January  30,  1649,  the  king  was  beheaded  at  Whitehall. 
With  the  court  of  justice  which  professed  to  try  him,  with  the  sen- 
tence which  it  passed,  and  w^ith  the  execution  of  that  sentence,  the 
Scots  had  nothing  whatever  to  do.  As  they  had  no  idea  of  the 
existence  of  their  kingdom  without  a  king,  nor  of  having  any  other 
king  than  the  hereditar}^  one,  no  sooner  was  the  news  of  the  king's 
death  known  in  Edinburgh  than  Charles,  his  son,  was  proclaimed 
King  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland. 

Hamilton,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  England,  was  brought  to 
trial  as  an  English  subject  by  his  English  title  of  Earl  of  Cambridge; 
he  was  found  guilty  of  treason  in  invading  the  country,  and  was 
beheaded.  Huntly  met  with  a  like  fate  in  Scotland,  He  w^as  also 
charged  with  treason  in  having  made  war  for  the  king  against  the 
Covenanters.  Meanwhile  in  the  north  Montrose  made  one  more 
effort  for  the  king,  but  failed,  and  was  hanged  at  Edinburgh  with- 
out trial  under  an  old  sentence  of  treason. 

But  while  the  Estates  were  thus  dealing  with  the  leaders  of 
the  Malignants,  they  w^ere  busy  on  their  own  account  treating  for 
the  return  of  Charles,  They  looked  on  him  as  their  lawful  king, 
and  they  w^re  ready  to  be  faithful  to  him  if  he  would  sign  the 
Covenant  and  promise  to  submit  to  the  dictates  of  the  Assembly, 
These  promises  he  made,  and,  before  he  landed,  he  signed  the  Cove- 
nant, in  July,  1650,  while  the  courtiers  whom  he  had  brought  wnth 
him  were  nearly  all  sent  away  as  being  either  Alalignants  or 
Engagers. 

No  sooner  did  the  news  of  these  doings  reach  London  than 
Cromwell  was  sent  northward  with  a  large  army  to  put  a  stop  to 
them.  The  old  hatred  of  England  was  rekindled  by  this  invasion, 
and  numbers  of  recruits  flocked  round  the  banner  of  the  Covenant. 
The  army  thus  brought  together  was  made  up  of  good  soldiers  who 
made  no  pretenses  to  piety,  and  of  would-be  saints  who  knew  noth- 
ing of  fighting.  But  the  saints  drove  from  their  ranks  all  whom 
they  suspected  of  lukewarmness  in  the  cause  and  therefore  looked 
on  as  sinners,  and  thus  weeded  out  their  best  soldiers.  Those  who 
were  left  vrerc  put  under  the  command  of  Leslie,  and  the  king  was 
not  suffered  to  go  out  with  the  host.     They  took  up  a  strong  posi- 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  343 

1650-1654 

tion  on  the  hills  south  of  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  for  some  time 
Cromwell  tried  in  vain  to  bring  them  to  a  battle,  but  at  last  Leslie 
was  persuaded  against  his  better  judgment  to  go  down  into  the 
plain  and  meet  the  enemy.  A  battle  was  fought  near  Dunbar, 
September  3,  in  which  the  Scots  were  thoroughly  beaten. 

Meanwhile  Charles  was  in  Dunfermline,  in  old  times  the  royal 
city,  under  care  so  strict  and  watchful  that  it  was  very  much  like 
imprisonment.  The  life  which  he  led  there  was  so  distasteful  to 
him  that  he  made  his  escape,  in  hopes  of  joining  the  Northern 
chiefs.  But  his  plans  were  badly  laid.  He  found  no  one  to  meet 
him,  as  he  had  expected,  and  he  was  pursued  and  brought  back  by 
his  former  guardians.  According  to  the  ancient  custom,  Charles 
was  crowned  at  Scone  by  the  hands  of  the  Marquis  of  Argyle. 

While  Cromwell  was  busy  in  Scotland  the  Scottish  army 
marched  into  England.  This  time  they  took  the  king  with  them. 
But  Cromwell  hastened  after  them,  came  up  with  them  at  Worcester, 
and  defeated  them  there,  September  3,  165 1,  exactly  a  year  after 
his  victory  at  Dunbar.  This  was  the  last  battle  fought  in  the  Civil 
War.  The  Scots  had  been  the  first  to  take  up  the  sword,  and  they 
were  the  last  to  lay  it  down.  Charles,  after  wandering  about  for 
some  time  in  danger,  and  in  want,  escaped  to  the  Continent.  Mean- 
while General  Monk,  who  had  been  left  in  Scotland  with  an  army 
of  5000  men,  was  reducing  the  country  to  subjection.  The  public 
records  deposited  in  Stirling  Castle  were  sent  to  the  Tower  of 
London,  but  the  regalia  could  not  be  found.  They  had  been 
secretly  taken  from  the  castle  where  they  were  supposed  to  be,  and 
were  kept  well  concealed. 

Cromwell,  now  Lord  Protector  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  set  to  work  to  carry  out  Edward  L's  idea  of  a  legislative 
union  of  England  and  Scotland.  This  union  was  ratified  by  the 
Council  in  1654.  It  was  then  settled  that  Scotland  should  be  repre- 
sented by  thirty  members  in  the  English  Parliament.  Free  trade 
was  established  between  the  two  countries.  Great  changes  were 
also  made  in  the  church  government.  The  Assembly  was  closed, 
and  the  power  of  the  church  courts  was  done  away  with.  The 
country  was  divided  into  five  districts,  and  the  care  of  providing 
ministers  for  the  different  parishes  was  laid  upon  a  certain  number 
of  ministers  to  be  chosen  from  these  districts.  In  order  to  improve 
the  state  of  the  people,  all  feudal  dues  were  taken  away.  A  fixed 
rent  in  money  was  substituted  for  all  the  services  and  restrictions 


344  SCOTLAND 

1654-1659 

to  which  the  land  had  hitherto  been  hable.  The  Highlands  were 
kept  in  order  by  the  founding  of  garrison  forts. 

Once  only  was  the  peace  and  order  thus  well  established 
broken  in  favor  of  the  Stuarts.  A  rising  was  made  in  the  High- 
lands by  William  Cunningham,  Lord  Glencairn,  who  acted  under  a 
commission  from  Charles.  More  than  5000  men  gathered  round 
him.  They  were  dispersed  by  a  detachment  of  Monk's  troops  under 
General  Morgan  at  Loch  Garry  before  they  had  come  down  from 
the  Highlands. 

The  Protector,  whose  conquest  had  made  Scotland  prosperous, 
died  September  3,  1658.  His  son  Richard  succeeded  him  in  office, 
but  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  keep  order,  as  his  father  had  done. 
A  time  of  great  confusion  followed,  which  ended  in  the  recall  and 
restoration  of  Charles.  This  was  chiefly  the  work  of  General  Monk. 
He  was  commander  of  the  army  in  Scotland  during  the  Protec- 
torate. Some  time  after  Cromwell's  death  he  called  together  a 
Convention  of  the  Representatives  of  the  Counties.  Whether  they 
knew  of  his  intention  of  restoring  Charles  or  not  is  not  certain. 
But  they  aided  him  with  a  large  sum  of  money.  In  November, 
1659,  he  set  out  with  the  army  for  London,  and  in  about  six 
months'  time  Charles  returned  in  triumph  to  England.  In  Scotland, 
where  Charles  had  been  already  crowned,  his  return  was  celebrated 
with  great  rejoicings  by  the  people,  who  hoped  that  he  would  up- 
hold the  Covenant  which  he  had  signed.  Before  long  they  found 
out  how  much  they  had  been  mistaken.  In  the  very  first  English 
Parliament  an  act  was  passed  which  took  from  Scotland  the  privi- 
lege of  free  trade  with  England,  which  she  had  enjoyed  under 
Cromwell.  This  was  the  Navigation  Act,  by  which  the  exporting 
and  importing  of  merchandise  into  England  or  any  of  her  colonies 
was  forbidden  to  any  but  English  vessels. 

When  the  Estates  met  an  act  called  the  Act  Rescissory  was 
passed.  By  this  act,  all  the  acts  passed  since  1633  were  cut  out 
of  the  Statutes ;  nearly  all  the  concessions  wrung  from  Charles  I. 
were  recalled.  The  causes  of  dispute  between  the  king  and  the 
people  were  thus  restored  to  the  state  in  which  they  had  been  before 
the  great  struggle  began.  In  this  same  year  Episcopacy  was  re- 
established by  tlie  Estates,  and  the  Covenant  was  publicly  burned 
by  the  hangman.  As  there  was  but  one  of  the  old  bishops  still 
alix'c,  three  new  ones  were  consecrated  in  England.  James  Sharp 
was  the  Primate.     He  had  gone  up  to  London  to  plead  the  cause 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  345 

1633-1662 

of  the  Covenant  and  of  presbyters;  he  came  back  an  archbishop, 
and  was  thenceforward  foremost  in  persecuting  the  cause  he  had 
deserted. 

The  Government  of  Scotland  was  intrusted  to  a  Privy  Coun- 
cil. Its  authority  was  supported  by  a  standing  lifeguard,  the  troop 
that  former  kings  had  often  asked  for  in  vain.  To  this  council 
were  intrusted  the  supreme  powers  of  the  Estates  during  the  in- 
tervals between  the  Sessions.  An  Act  of  Indemnity  was  promised, 
but  before  it  was  passed  several  persons  suffered  death.  Two  of 
those  who  thus  fell  were  specially  distinguished.  The  one  was 
Argyle,  whose  great  power  made  him  a  dangerous  rival  to  the  king. 
He  was  treacherously  seized  and  beheaded  for  treason^  May  2J, 
i66r.  But  the  victim  who  was  most  regretted  and  whose  fate 
called  forth  the  most  pity  was  James  Guthrie,  a  noted  divine,  the 
leader  of  the  extreme  party  among  the  Covenanters,  called  the  Re- 
monstrants. They  had  prepared  a  remonstrance  to  be  presented 
to  the  king,  praying  that  no  form  of  worship  but  their  own  might 
be  suffered  within  the  realm.  This  remonstrance  was  drawn  up 
by  Guthrie.  Although  it  was  never  presented,  Guthrie  was  now 
brought  to  trial  on  a  charge  of  spreading  abroad  sedition  and  trea- 
son against  the  government.  Refusing  any  legal  defense,  he  was 
found  guilty  and  beheaded,  being  looked  on  by  the  Covenanters  as 
a  martyr  for  his  faith. 

The  promised  Act  of  Indemnity  was  not  passed  till  1662,  and 
it  was  not  a  free  pardon,  as  had  been  looked  for.  Between  seven 
and  eight  hundred  persons  were  heavily  fined.  In  this  same  year 
an  act  was  passed  requiring  all  persons  holding  any  public  office 
to  sign  a  declaration  that  the  Covenant  was  an  unlawful  oath;  and 
lastly  a  law  was  passed  that  all  ministers  presented  to  livings  since 
1639  should  be  turned  out,  unless  they  would  agree  to  be  collated 
or  instituted  by  the  new  bishops.  The  ministers  who  refused  to 
consent  to  Episcopal  collation  were  required  to  remove  with  their 
families  out  of  their  parishes  within  a  month  from  the  date  of  the 
passing  of  this  act.  The  meeting  of  the  Council  in  which  it  was 
passed  was  called  the  Drunken  Parliament,  from  the  condition  of 
the  members  present.  Sooner  than  submit  to  this,  three  hundred 
and  fifty  ministers  resigned.  JNIost  of  their  parishioners  followed 
them,  and  the  churches  were  left  empty,  while  the  people  flocked  to 
the  open-air  services  of  tlieir  former  ]:)astors.  ^o  ])revent  this  an 
act  was  passed  for  levying  fines  on  all  persons  who  did  not  go  to 


346  SCOTLAND 

1662-1666 

their  parish  church  on  the  Lord's  Day,  Another  act,  called  the 
Mile  Act,  was  also  passed,  which  forbade  the  recusant  or  refusing 
ministers  to  come  within  twenty  miles  of  their  former  parishes,  or 
within  three  miles  of  any  royal  burgh.  The  Court  of  High  Com- 
mission was  revived,  and  empowered  to  proceed  against  all  dis- 
senters from  the  Episcopal  (now  the  Established)  Church,  whether 
they  were  Catholics  or  Presbyterians.  But  this  tyranny  drove  the 
people  to  revolt,  and  a  third  religious  war  began.  In  the  first  the 
people  had  taken  up  arms  for  a  question  of  doctrine;  the  second 
arose  from  disputes  about  a  form  of  prayer;  this,  the  third,  was 
caused  by  enforcing  a  form  of  church  government  specially  dis- 
liked by  the  nation.  In  the  conduct  of  public  prayer  no  change  was 
made.  As  there  had  been  in  James's  reign  a  Presbyterian  Church 
with  a  Liturgy,  so  now  there  was  an  Episcopal  Church  without  one. 
But,  though  the  cause  of  dispute  seemed  this  time  of  less  im- 
portance than  in  the  two  former  wars,  the  zeal  on  the  one  side  and 
the  persecution  on  the  other  were  greater  than  they  had  been  in 
the  former  struggles.  Then  Edinburgh  and  the  Eastern  Lowlands 
had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  battle;  now  it  was  in  the  West,  where 
it  was  latest  kindled,  that  religious  zeal  flamed  fiercest  and  lasted 
longest. 

In  spite  of  fines  and  penalties  the  churches  still  remained 
empty,  wdiile  the  people  went  long  distances  to  gather  round  their 
*'  outed  "  ministers.  On  the  hillsides,  wherever  in  short  they  were 
least  likely  to  be  dispersed  by  the  dragoons,  they  met  to  hear  the 
sermons  of  their  favorite  preachers.  But  so  great  was  the  danger 
incurred  by  thus  worsliiping  God  according  to  their  consciences 
that  sentries  were  stationed  on  the  hilltops  round  to  give  warning 
of  the  approach  of  danger,  and  the  men  stacked  their  muskets  so 
that  they  could  seize  and  use  them  on  a  moment's  notice.  Such 
meetings  were  called  conventicles,  and  to  hunt  them  down  bands  of 
soldiers  scoured  the  country  in  all  directions.  In  the  southwest 
tlie  troops  were  under  the  command  of  Sir  James  Turner,  and  it 
was  his  severity  that  drove  the  people  to  actual  revolt.  A  large 
body  of  peasants  soon  gathered  (1666)  to  protect  their  con- 
venticles. They  seized  Turner  at  Dumfries,  and,  when  their  num- 
bers had  increased  to  nearly  three  thousand,  they  set  out  for  Edin- 
burgh, expecting  the  people  of  the  Eastern  Counties  to  show  their 
former  spirit  by  rising  to  join  them.  General  Thomas  Dalziel,  who 
had   made  a   reputation  by  fighting   for  the   Emperor  of   Russia 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  347 

1666-1669 

against  Turks  and  Tartars,  was  sent  to  bar  their  way.  But  they 
avoided  and  passed  him.  He  had  to  come  back  after  them,  but 
they  were  so  well  posted  that  the  troops  could  only  break  and  dis- 
perse them  by  repeated  attacks.  But  the  feeling  of  this  district  had 
changed  so  much  that  the  peasantry  now  turned  against  these  wild 
Whigs  of  the  Westland,  and  treated  them  nearly  as  badly  as  the 
troopers  had  done. 

This  rising  did  no  real  good;  the  tyranny  became  even  more 
cruel  than  before.  The  trials  which  followed  were  infamous,  from 
the  shameful  and  constant  use  of  torture.  The  instruments  used 
for  this  purpose  were  the  thumbkin,  a  screw  applied  to  the  thumb- 
joint,  and  the  boot,  a  cylinder  in  which  the  leg  of  the  victim  was 
crushed  by  hammering  in  wedges.  Both  inflicted  the  most  fearful 
pain  without  destroying  life.  Twenty  men  were  hanged  in  different 
places.  The  fines  and  forfeitures  inflicted  were  given  as  rewards 
to  soldiers  and  lawyers  who  might  get  them  out  of  the  offenders  as 
they  best  could.  At  this  time  certain  bonds  called  law-burrows 
were  originated.  These  were  bonds  by  which  all  the  principal  men 
in  a  district  pledged  themselves  to  prevent  those  beneath  them  in 
rank  from  breaking  the  peace. 

But  these  measures  only  increased  the  disorders  they  were  in- 
tended to  quiet,  and  the  government  tried  a  new  system  of  greater 
toleration.  An  indulgence  was  issued,  by  which  those  of  the  outed 
ministers  who  could  prove  that  they  had  lived  peaceably  and  had 
not  held  conventicles  since  they  had  been  turned  out  of  their  livings, 
were  allowed  to  go  back  to  their  parishes,  provided  no  one  else  had 
been  put  in  their  place.  Some  few  took  advantage  of  it ;  but  the 
greater  number  would  not,  and  looked  on  their  indulged  brethren 
as  nearly  as  bad  as  the  prelatists.  But  this  semblance  of  yielding 
was  more  than  balanced  by  new  exactions.  Intercommuning — that 
is,  having  anything  to  do  with  any  persons  who  had  in  any  way 
broken  any  of  the  many  laws  against  conventicles — was  denounced 
as  a  criminal  offense.  Lauderdale,  who  succeeded  Middleton  as 
Commissioner  in  1669,  brought  an  army  of  Celts  down  on  the  Low- 
lands, which  they  pillaged  at  pleasure,  carrying  back  rich  spoils  to 
their  native  mountains. 

Sharp,  the  Primate,  who  was  looked  on  as  the  originator  of 
all  the  ])ersecutions,  was  bitterly  hated.  In  May,  1679,  as  he  was 
driving  near  St.  Andrews,  lie  fell  into  tb.e  hands  of  a  party  of  men 
who  were  lying  in  wait  there  for  one  Carmichael,  the  sherift'-sub- 


348  SCOTLAND 

1669 

stitute,  a  wretch  who  had  made  himself  especially  hated.  When 
they  heard  that  the  archbishop's  coach  was  coming  that  way,  they 
looked  on  it  as  a  special  act  of  Providence  by  which  the  Lord  de- 
livered him  into  their  hands.  They  fired  into  the  coach,  but  did 
not  hit  him.  He  sheltered  himself  behind  his  daughter,  but  they 
dragged  him  out,  and  hacked  him  to  death  on  the  heath  in  a  very 
barbarous  way.  Every  effort  was  made  to  track  the  murderers,  but 
they  escaped  to  the  West. 

The  straitest  sect  of  the  Covenanters  now  put  forth  a  protest 
called  the  Sanquhar  Declaration.  Their  leaders  were  Donald 
Cargill  and  Richard  Cameron,  after  whom  they  were  called  Cam- 
eronians.  Their  openly  avowed  intention  was  to  free  the  country 
from  the  tyranny  under  which  it  was  groaning.  They  held  that 
Charles  had  by  his  perjury  forfeited  the  crown.  They  excommuni- 
cated both  him  and  his  brother,  James,  Duke  of  York,  who  was  the 
Commissioner,  and  surpassed  both  Middleton  and  Lauderdale  in 
cruelty.  To  kill  either  the  king  or  his  brother,  or  both  of  them,  the 
Sanquhar  men  declared  would  be  perfectly  justifiable.  They  joined 
themselves  together  by  one  of  the  old  bonds  for  mutual  defense  and 
support,  and  sought  a  refuge  from  the  troopers  who  were  out  after 
them  in  Airds  Moss,  in  Ayrshire.  There  they  were  attacked,  and, 
though  they  fought  bravely,  were  overcome  by  the  soldiers. 

In  the  hill-country  between  Lanark  and  Ayr  was  the  favorite 
haunt  of  the  Covenanters.  Here  they  held  great  conventicles,  to 
which  the  men  came  armed.  At  a  meeting  at  Drumclog  they  were 
attacked  by  a  body  of  dragoons  under  John  Graham,  of  Claver- 
house,  but  defeated  them,  and,  wild  with  joy,  thought  that  they 
saw  the  special  hand  of  Providence  in  this  success.  They  gathered 
in  great  numbers,  and  marched  on  Glasgow,  but  did  no  harm  to 
either  the  city  or  the  citizens. 

To  put  down  this  revolt,  Charles  sent  his  illegitimate  son, 
James,  Duke  of  Buccleuch  and  Monmouth,  with  an  army  of  15,000 
men.  The  zeal  of  the  Covenanters  was  great,  but  their  resources 
were  few,  and  their  leaders  unskillful.  It  was  therefore  an  easy 
matter  for  a  well-trained  army  to  defeat  them,  and  at  the  Bridge 
f)ver  the  Clyde  at  Bothwell  they  were  beaten  with  great  slaughter. 
Twelve  hundred  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Seven  of  these 
were  put  to  death,  some  were  released  on  giving  sureties  for  their 
future  good  conduct,  and  the  rest  were  shipped  off  to  the  planta- 
tions.    Cameron  fell  in  this  fray. 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  349 

1669-1685 

While  the  Duke  of  York  was  Commissioner  an  act  was 
passed  to  the  effect  that  all  persons  taking  office,  whether  under 
government  or  from  the  Corporation  of  Burghs,  should  take  the 
test,  an  oath  for  the  mamtenance  of  the  Protestant  faith  as  it  had 
been  established  in  the  first  Parliament  of  James  VI.  At  the  same 
time  the  king  was  declared  supreme  in  church  and  state,  and  the 
hereditary  succession  was  declared  to  be  unchangeable.  Now,  as 
it  was  well  known  that  James,  the  king's  brother  and  the  heir  to 
the  throne,  was  a  Catholic,  it  was  clear  that  the  test  gave  no  se- 
curity to  the  Protestant  faith,  if  James,  when  king,  could  make 
what  changes  he  pleased  in  the  church. 

Archibald,  Earl  of  Argyle,  who  had  been  restored  to  his 
father's  earldom,  was  the  most  powerful  chief  in  the  kingdom.  His 
father  had  lost  his  life  for  his  attachment  to  the  Covenant,  but  he 
himself  had  hitherto  upheld  the  government,  and  had  even  offered 
to  bring  his  Highlanders  to  its  support.  Now,  however,  he  showed 
signs  of  opposition,  for  he  would  only  take  the  test  with  the  protest 
that  he  did  so  only  in  so  far  as  it  was  consistent  with  itself  and 
with  the  safety  of  the  Protestant  faith.  For  this  reservation  he 
was  accused  of  leasing-making,  that  is,  of  making  mischief  be- 
tween the  king  and  his  people.  This  offense  had,  by  a  most  unjust 
law  passed  in  the  reign  of  James  VI.,  been  made  treason.  By  this 
law  Argyle  was  condemned  to  death.  He  escaped  and  fled  to  PIol- 
land,  where  he  became  the  center  of  a  party  of  his  fellow-country- 
men who  had  also  left  their  country  because  of  their  political 
opinions.  After  this  unjust  attack  on  Argyle  no  one  could  be  sure 
of  his  liberty,  and  plans  were  made  for  emigration  to  Carolina. 
This  aroused  suspicion  and  through  it  Baillie  of  Jerviswood,  a  man 
much  beloved  and  respected,  was  tried  on  an  accusation  of  con- 
spiracy, was  found  guilty,  and  put  to  death.  His  death  greatly 
increased  the  popular  discontent. 

The  death  of  Charles  and  the  accession  of  James  VII.  rather 
made  matters  worse  than  better  for  the  people.  Another  defiance 
from  the  Cameronians,  called  the  Apologetical  Declaration,  was 
met  by  an  act  which  gave  the  soldiers  jiower  at  once  to  put  to  death 
anyone  who  would  not  take  the  Abjuration  Oath ;  that  is,  swear 
that  they  abhorred  and  renounced  this  treasonable  declaration.  A 
time  of  cruel  slauglitcM^  fnllowed,  in  which  Claverhouse  vvas  the 
chief  persecutor.  Many  heartrending  tales  are  told  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  ])oor  creatures  whose  fanaticism  led  them  to  persist  in 


350  SCOTLAND 

1685-1688 

refusing  to  take  this  oath.  Early  in  James's  reign  an  act  was 
passed  by  which  attending  a  Conventicle  became  a  capital  crime. 

When  Charles  died  his  natural  son  Monmouth  was  in  Hol- 
land. A  plot  was  formed  for  placing  him  on  the  throne  in  place  of 
his  uncle  James,  who  was  hated,  while  Monmouth  was  very  popu- 
lar. A  rising  was  to  have  taken  place  at  the  same  time  in  both 
kingdoms.  Argyle  was  to  take  the  lead  in  Scotland,  but  he  was 
subject  to  the  interference  of  a  committee  chosen  from  among  the 
others.  The  government  was  informed  of  this  intended  outbreak, 
and  all  the  clans  that  were  known  to  be  hostile  to  Argyle  were 
roused  against  him.  Early  in  May  he  landed  in  Kintyre,  and  sent 
out  the  fiery  cross  to  summon  his  clansmen,  who  mustered  to  the 
number  of  1800.  Unfortunately  he  took  the  advice  of  the  com- 
mittee to  march  into  the  Lowlands,  but  there  was  no  uprising.  His 
arms  and  ammunition  were  taken,  and  his  men,  who  were  starving, 
deserted  and  dispersed.  Argyle  himself  was  taken  and  executed 
with  great  indignities,  under  the  old  sentence  for  leasing-making. 
After  his  death  the  vengeance  of  the  government  fell  on  his 
clansmen. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Council  had  blindly  followed  in  the  lead  of 
the  king.  They  would  now  do  so  no  longer,  as  they  feared  that  he 
meant  to  restore  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  A  Catholic  was  made 
Commissioner  and  James  next  tried  to  get  a  bill  passed  by  which 
all  the  penalties  against  the  Roman  Catholics  should  be  abolished, 
while  those  against  the  Covenanters  should  remain  in  force.  To 
this  bill  even  the  bishops  objected,  and  James  saw"  that  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  treat  all  sects  alike.  He  published  several 
indulgences,  but  it  was  only  the  last,  in  1688,  that  was  full  and 
complete.  It  extended  toleration  to  all,  even  to  the  Quakers,  who 
had  up  to  this  time  been  as  much  despised  and  persecuted  as  the 
Covenanters. 

This  change  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the  king  had  come  too 
late.  His  attack  on  the  liberties  of  the  church  in  England  had  been 
resisted  by  seven  of  her  bishops ;  and  before  long  his  English  sub- 
jects resolved  to  bear  his  tyranny  no  longer.  They  invited  his 
nephew  and  son-in-law,  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  to  come  to 
their  aid.  He  came,  and  was  by  common  consent  invited  to  mount 
the  tlu-one  abdicated  by  James.  When  the  news  of  William's  entry 
into  London  reached  Edinburgh,  a  deputation,  headed  by  Hamil- 
ton, was  sent  to  him,  to  pray  him  to  call  a  convention  of  the  Es- 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  351 

1688-1689 

tates,  and,  till  it  met,  to  take  the  government  of  Scotland  into  his 
own  hands,  January  7,  1689. 

When  the  convention  met  there  was  a  large  Whig  majority. 
They  passed  a  resolution  that  James  by  his  misgovernment  had 
forfeited  the  throne;  they  therefore  deposed  him,  and  offered  the 
Crown  to  William  and  his  wife  Mary,  the  daughter  of  James,  on 
the  same  terms  as  had  been  made  in  England.  The  convention 
then  turned  itself  into  a  parliament,  which  went  on  to  the  end  of 
the  reign.  The  members  went  in  procession  to  the  Cross  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  their  vote  was  read.  William  and  Mary  were  then 
proclaimed ;  and  the  ministers  of  parishes  were  ordered  to  pray 
publicly  for  the  king  and  cjueen,  on  pain  of  being  turned  out  of 
their  livings.  To  the  Claim  of  Right,  which  was  much  the  same  as 
the  English  one,  a  special  clause  was  added,  declaring  prelacy  to 
be  an  intolerable  burden  which  had  long  been  hateful  to  the  people, 
and  which  ought  to  be  swept  away.  Three  commissioners  were 
sent  with  the  Instrument  of  Government  to  London.  Argyle  ad- 
ministered the  coronation  oath ;  but  William,  while  taking  it, 
declared  that  he  would  not  become  a  persecutor  in  support  of  any 
sect. 

The  fall  of  James  was  followed  by  the  fall  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  which  had  made  itself  hateful  to  the  greater  number  of  the 
people.  They  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and  on  Christmas 
Day,  1688,  a  general  attack  was  made  on  the  curates  or  parish 
priests  in  the  western  lowlands.  About  two  hundred  curates  with 
their  families  were  at  once  driven  out  of  their  houses  with  every 
sort  of  insult  and  abuse.  William  did  not  approve  of  these  ex- 
cesses, but  he  had  no  means  of  putting  a  stop  to  them,  for  there 
was  no  regiment  north  of  the  Tweed.  He  put  forth  a  proclamation 
ordering  all  persons  to  lay  down  their  arms,  but  it  was  little  heeded. 
The  rabbling  and  turning  out  went  on  much  as  before.  If  tlie 
bishops  would  have  taken  the  oaths,  William  would  most  likely 
have  protected  them ;  but  they  remained  true  to  their  old  master, 
and  shared  his  fall.  For  a  time  all  was  disorder.  In  some  parishes 
the  curates  went  on  ministering  as  heretofore,  while  in  others  the 
Presbyterian  divines  held  services  in  tents,  or  illegally  occupied  the 
pulpits.  It  was  not  till  June.  1690,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
was  reestablished  bv  law.  Sixty  of  the  ministers  who  had  been 
turned  out  at  the  Restoration  were  still  living,  and  to  them  was 
given  authority  to  visit  all  the  parishes,  and  to  turn  out  all  those 


362  SCOTLAND 

1688-1689 

curates  whom  they  thought  wanting  in  abilities,  scandalous  in 
morals,  or  unsound  in  faith.  Those  livings  from  which  the  curates 
had  been  rabbled  and  driven  away  were  declared  vacant.  This  way 
of  dealing  with  the  church  gave  offense  both  to  the  Episcopalians 
and  to  the  extreme  Presbyterians,  who  did  not  approve  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  king  in  church  matters.  Both  these  parties  continued 
to  look  on  William  and  Mary  as  usurpers. 

When  the  Convention  first  met,  each  party,  Whigs  and  Ja- 
cobites alike,  had  dreaded  an  outbreak  on  the  part  of  the  other. 
In  the  cellars  of  the  city  were  hidden  large  numbers  of  Covenanters, 
who  had  been  brought  up  from  the  West  to  overawe  the  Jacobites, 
while  the  Duke  of  Gordon  held  the  castle  for  James,  and  he  could, 
if  he  had  so  chosen,  have  turned  the  guns  upon  the  city.  But  the 
Jacobites,  finding  themselves  in  the  minority,  determined  to  leave 
Edinburgh,  and  to  hold  a  rival  Convention  at  Stirling.  But  this 
plan  was  so  ill  concerted  that  Claverhouse,  now  Viscount  Dundee, 
left  hastily  before  the  others  were  ready;  an  alarm  was  given,  and 
they  were  all  secured ;  but,  an  order  being  sent  out  for  his  arrest, 
he  summoned  the  clans  for  King  James.  Many  of  them  joined 
him,  more  from  hatred  of  Argyle  than  from  love  for  James.  Dun- 
dee with  no  regular  troops  showed  what  good  soldiers  the  Celts 
can  make  with  a  good  leader.  Each  clan  in  such  an  army  formed  a 
regiment  bound  together  by  a  tie  of  common  brotherhood,  and  all 
bound  to  live  or  die  for  the  colonel  their  chief;  and  so  long  as  the 
clans  could  be  kept  from  quarreling  all  went  well.  Dundee  wrote 
to  James,  who  was  now  in  Ireland,  for  help;  but  he  sent  only  300 
miserably  equipped  foot,  under  an  officer  named  Canon.  The 
hopes  of  the  Whigs  were  not  entirely  fulfilled,  for  Argyle  was  held 
back  because  his  country  had  been  lately  wasted ;  and  the  Cov- 
enanters had  doubts  about  fighting  for  a  king  who  had  not  signed 
the  Covenant.  However,  some  of  them  thought  otherwise,  and  a 
regiment  was  raised  called  the  Cameronians. 

The  war  now  broke  out  again.  It  was  the  great  aim  of  each 
party  to  win  over  the  adherents  of  the  Marquis  of  Athole.  The 
marquis  himself,  to  keep  out  of  harm's  way,  had  gone  to  England, 
and  of  those  whom  he  had  left  to  act  for  him  some  were  for  James, 
others  for  the  king  and  queen.  It  was  of  importance  to  both  sides 
to  secure  the  castle  of  Blair,  which  belonged  to  Athole,  and  near 
there  the  two  armies  met,  at  Killiecrankie,  a  pass  leading  into  the 
Highlands.     Here  the  Celts  won  a  brilliant  and  decided  victory. 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS 

1689-1692 

The  clansmen  charged  sword  in  hand  down  the  pass  with  such  fury 
that  they  swept  their  foes  before  them,  July  27,  1689.  But  this 
success  had  been  dearly  bought  by  the  death  of  Dundee.  Thus  left 
without  a  leader,  the  victors  thought  more  of  plunder  than  pursuit ; 
nor  was  there  anyone  among  them  fitted  to  fill  Dundee's  place,  and 
to  follow  up  the  advantage  he  had  won.  Recruits  came  in,  their 
numbers  increased,  but  this  only  made  the  disorder  greater. 

A  month  later  they  attacked  the  Cameronian  regiment  sta- 
tioned at  Dunkeld,  but  after  a  preliminary  success  were  driven  back, 
and  blaming  each  other,  they  dispersed.  In  the  spring  of  the  next 
year  the  clans  gathered  again,  under  an  officer  named  Buchan,  who 
came  from  James  with  a  commission  to  act  as  his  commander-in- 
chief  in  Scotland,  But  they  were  surprised  and  scattered  in  the 
strath  of  the  Spey.  This  action  ended  the  Civil  War  in  Scotland, 
for  Gordon  had  long  since  given  up  Edinburgh  Castle,  To  keep 
the  western  clans  in  order.  General  Mackay  built  a  fort  in  the  west 
of  Invernesshire,  which  was  called  Fort  William,  in  honor  of  the 
king. 

Still  the  chiefs  did  not  take  the  oaths  to  William,  and  were 
clearly  only  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  a  new  leader  to  break  out 
again.  To  win  them  over  to  the  government  a  large  sum  of  money 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  John  Campbell,  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  He 
was  accused  of  cheating  both  the  clans  and  the  king  by  keeping  a 
part  of  this  sum  himself,  and  he  never  gave  any  clear  account  of 
what  he  had  done  with  it.  At  the  same  time  a  proclamation  was 
put  forth  which  offered  pardon  to  all  the  rebels  who  should  take 
the  oaths  to  W^illiam  and  Mary  before  or  on  December  31,  1691. 
All  who  did  not  take  advantage  of  this  offer  were  after  that  day 
to  be  dealt  with  as  enemies  and  traitors,  and  warlike  preparations 
were  made  for  carrying  out  the  threat. 

By  the  day  named  the  clans  had  all  come  in,  except  Maclan, 
chief  of  a  tribe  of  AlacDonalds,  who  lived  in  Glencoe,  a  wild  moun- 
tain valley  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  Argyleshire.  On  the  last 
day,  December  31,  iMacIan  and  his  principal  clansmen  went  to  Fort 
William  to  take  the  oaths,  but  found  that  there  was  no  one  there 
who  had  authority  to  administer  them.  There  was  no  magistrate 
nearer  than  Inverary,  and,  as  the  ground  was  deeply  covered  with 
snow,  it  was  some  days  before  IMacIan  got  there.  But  the  sheriff, 
in  consideration  of  his  good-will  and  of  the  delay  that  he  had  met 
with,  administered  the  oaths,  January  6,  and  sent  an  account  of 


354  SCOTLAND 

1692-1698 

the  whole  affair  to  the  Privy  Council  at  Edinburgh.  Unfortunately 
for  Glencoe,  Breadalbane  was  his  bitter  personal  enemy,  and  along 
with  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  the  Master  of  Stair,  he  determined  on 
his  destruction.  An  order  for  the  extirpation  of  the  whole  tribe 
was  drawn  up  and  presented  to  William,  who  signed  it,  and  it  was 
carried  out  with  cold-blooded  treachery.  A  party  of  soldiers,  under 
the  command  of  Campbell  of  Glenlyon,  appeared  in  the  Glen.  They 
gave  out  that  they  came  as  friends,  and  as  such  they  were  kindly 
welcomed,  and  shared  the  hospitality  of  the  MacDonalds  for  a 
fortnight.  Without  any  warning  they  turned  on  their  hosts,  and 
before  dawn  of  a  winter's  morning  slew  nearly  all  the  dwellers  in 
the  valley,  old  and  young  together,  February  13,  1692.  They  then 
burned  the  houses  and  drove  off  the  cattle,  so  that  nothing  was 
left  for  the  few  wretched  beings  who  had  escaped  death  but  to 
perish  miserably  of  cold  and  hunger.  Whether  William  knew  the 
whole  state  of  the  case  or  not  when  he  signed  the  warrant  is  not 
certain,  but  he  did  not  punish  those  who  had  dared  to  commit  this 
wholesale  murder  in  his  name.  And  though  four  years  after,  when 
a  stir  was  made  about  it,  he  did  grant  a  commission  to  the  Privy 
Council  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  he  did  not  bring  to  judgment  the 
Master  of  Stair,  who  was  very  clearly  pointed  out  as  the  guilty 
person. 

Just  at  this  time  the  public  attention  was  taken  up  with  a 
scheme  for  founding  a  new  colony  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and 
people's  minds  were  so  full  of  it  that  nothing  else  was  thought  of. 
It  was  got  up  by  William  Paterson,  who  is  to  be  remembered  as 
the  originator  of  the  Bank  of  England.  He  fancied  that  he  had 
found,  what  Columbus  and  the  other  navigators  of  his  day  had 
sought  in  vain,  a  short  cut  to  the  Indies.  His  plan  was  to  plant  a 
colony  on  the  isthmus  which  unites  North  and  South  America,  and 
to  make  it  the  route  by  which  the  merchandise  of  the  East  should 
be  brought  to  Europe,  thereby  shortening  the  long  sea-voyage.  He 
drew  glowing  pictures  of  the  untold  wealth  that  would  thus  fall  to 
the  lot  of  those  who  were  clear-sighted  enough  to  join  in  the  ven- 
ture. A  charter  was  granted  to  the  new  company,  which  gave  them 
a  monopoly  of  the  trade  with  Asia,  Africa,  and  America  for  a  term 
of  thirty-one  years,  with  leave  to  import  all  goods  duty  free,  except 
foreign  sugar  and  tobacco.  Never  had  project  been  so  popular. 
Everyone  was  anxious  to  take  shares.  Plalf  the  capital  of  Scotland 
was  invested  in  it,  and  poor  and  rich  alike,  deceived  by  Paterson's 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  355 

1698-1702 

lying  stories  of  the  healthfulness  and  fertility  of  the  soil  and  climate, 
were  eager  to  hasten  to  the  new  colony.  A  few  vessels  were  bought 
at  Hamburg  and  Amsterdam.  In  these  twelve  hundred  emigrants 
set  sail  on  July  25,  1698,  and  arrived  safely  on  the  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  Darien.  They  named  the  settlement  which  they  founded 
there  New  Caledonia,  and  built  a  town  and  a  fort,  to  which  they 
gave  the  names  of  New  Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews.  But  to  set 
up  such  a  trading  market  with  any  hopes  of  success  they  ought  to 
have  had  the  good-will  and  help  of  the  great  trading  countries  of 
Europe.  Instead  of  this,  England  and  Holland  were  much  op- 
posed to  the  scheme,  as  being  an  interference  with  their  trading 
rights.  The  East  India  Company  looked  on  the  bringing  in  of 
Eastern  merchandise  to  Scotland  as  an  infringement  of  their  privi- 
leges. Spain,  too,  claimed  the  isthmus  as  her  own,  and  seized  one 
of  the  Scottish  ships;  while  the  governors  of  the  English  colonies 
in  North  America  refused  to  let  them  have  supplies.  In  addition  to 
these  difficulties  from  without,  the  climate  was  wretchedly  un- 
healthful.  Disease  quickly  thinned  their  ranks,  till  at  last  the  miser- 
able remnant  whom  it  spared  were  glad  to  flee  from  almost  certain 
death.  They  deserted  the  new  settlement,  and  set  sail  for  New 
York.  Meanwhile  such  glowing  reports  of  the  success  of  the  ven- 
ture had  been  spread  abroad  at  home  that  a  second  body  of  thir- 
teen hundred  emigrants,  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  those  who  had 
gone  before  them,  set  sail  in  August  of  the  next  year.  They  found 
the  colony  deserted  and  the  colonists  gone.  They  themselves  fared 
no  better  than  the  first  settlers,  and  were  in  a  few  months  driven  out 
by  the  Spaniards.  The  Scottish  people  were  deeply  mortified  and 
much  enraged  by  the  failure  of  this  scheme.  They  blamed  William 
for  all  the  disasters  of  the  colonists,  because  he  had  done  nothing  to 
help  them,  nor  to  prevent  the  interference  of  Spain.  The  charter 
had  been  granted  by  the  government  of  Scotland  without  the  king's 
knowledge  when  he  was  in  Holland ;  and  though  he  could  not  recall 
it,  it  would  have  been  unjust  to  his  English  subjects  to  show  any 
favor  to  a  scheme  which,  had  it  succeeded,  might  have  proved  the 
ruin  of  their  East  Indian  trade.  So  much  bad  feeling  arose  out  of 
this  unfortunate  affair  between  the  two  nations  tliat  it  was  plain 
that  if  there  was  not  a  closer  union  between  them  there  would  be  a 
breach  before  long. 

Just  as  the  project  of  a  union  was  about  to  be  considered  in 
the  English  Parliament,  William  died,  March  8,  1702.      Since  the 


866  SCOTLAND 

1702-1707 

death  of  Mary,  in  1694,  he  had  reigned  alone.  Both  crowns  now 
passed  to  Anne,  the  younger  daughter  of  James  VII. 

It  was  in  Wilham's  reign  that  the  system  of  national  education 
which  has  made  the  Scots,  as  a  people,  so  intelligent  and  well- 
informed,  was  recast.  An  act  was  passed,  in  1696,  by  which  every 
parish  was  required  to  provide  a  suitable  schoolhouse,  and  to  pay  a 
properly  qualified  schoolmaster  for  the  instruction  of  the  children 
of  the  parish. 

James  VII.  had  died  in  France  a  few  months  before  his 
nephew,  and  his  son  had  been  proclaimed  there  as  James  VIII. 
This  made  the  Whigs  anxious  to  have  an  act  passed  in  Scotland 
similar  to  the  English  Act  of  Settlement.  By  this  act  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England  had  settled  that  if  Anne  died  without  heirs  the 
Crown  should  pass  to  the  nearest  Protestant  heir,  Sophia,  Electress 
of  Hanover,  granddaughter  of  James  VI.,  or  to  her  descendants. 
But  the  Estates  still  felt  injured  and  angry  about  the  late  differences 
with  England,  and  passed  an  Act  of  Security,  which  made  express 
conditions  that  the  same  person  should  not  succeed  to  the  throne  of 
both  kingdoms,  unless,  during  Queen  Anne's  reign,  measures  had 
been  taken  for  securing  the  honor  and  independence  of  the  Scottish 
nation  against  English  influence.  The  right  of  declaring  war 
against  England  at  any  time  was  to  remain  with  the  Scottish 
Parliament.  About  this  time  the  unfortunate  judicial  murder  of 
an  English  sea-captain  by  a  Scottish  court  gave  the  English  reason- 
able cause  for  complaint. 

It  was  clear  that  if  the  two  kingdoms  were  to  go  on  together 
in  peace,  it  could  only  be  by  joining  their  parliaments  and  their 
commercial  interests  into  one.  Commissioners  from  both  sides  were 
appointed  to  consider  the  best  way  of  effecting  this  union.  Go- 
dolphin,  the  Treasurer  of  England,  and  the  Duke  of  Queensberry, 
the  Royal  Commissioner  in  Scotland,  were  its  chief  promoters. 
The  commissioners  drew  up  a  Treaty  of  Union,  which  was  ap- 
proved by  the  parliaments  of  both  countries.  By  the  Articles  of 
E^nion  the  succession  to  both  Crowns  was  settled  on  the  Protestant 
heirs  of  Sophia ;  and  each  country  was  secured  in  the  possession  of 
her  national  church  as  then  established.  Scotland  was  to  send  six- 
teen representative  peers,  elected  from  the  whole  body  of  peers,  and 
forty-five  members  from  the  commons,  to  the  Parliament  at  West- 
minster, henceforth  to  be  called  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain. 
It  was  further  settled  that  one  seal,  with  the  arms  of  both  kingdoms 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  357 

1707 

quartered  upon  it,  should  serve  for  both  countries,  that  both  should 
be  subject  to  the  same  excise  duties  and  customs  and  should 
have  the  same  privileges  of  trade.  The  same  coins,  weights, 
and  measures  were  to  be  used  throughout  the  island.  The  law- 
courts  of  Scotland,  the  Court  of  Justiciary  and  the  Court  of  Ses- 
sion, were  to  remain  unchanged,  only  there  was  now  a  right  of 
appeal  from  the  Court  of  Session,  which  had  hitherto  been  supreme 
in  all  civil  cases,  to  the  House  of  Lords.  In  addition  to  the  twenty- 
five  Articles  of  Union,  a  special  act  was  passed  for  securing  the 
liberty  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  as  it  then  stood  in  all  time  coming, 
and  declaring  that  the  Presbyterian  should  be  the  only  church  gov- 
ernment in  Scotland.  The  first  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  met 
October  23,  1707. 

Twice  before  this  time  the  legislature  of  the  two  kingdoms 
had  been  thus  joined  together  into  one,  under  Edward  I.  and  under 
Cromwell.  But  these  two  unions,  each  the  result  of  conquest,  had 
lasted  but  a  little  while.  This  Union  was  destined  to  be  more 
enduring,  and  to  lead  to  increased  prosperity  in  both  kingdoms. 
For  Scotland  it  was  the  beginning  of  quite  a  new  state  of  things. 
Hitherto  the  struggle  for  national  life  had  left  her  no  leisure  for 
internal  development,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Union  she  was  without 
manufactures,  shipping,  or  commerce.  With  the  end  of  her  inde- 
pendent nationality  a  new  social  life  began,  and  a  spirit  of  industry 
and  enterprise  was  awakened,  which  has  since  raised  her  people  to 
their  present  eminence  in  trade,  manufacture,  and  agriculture.  The 
Union  struck  the  last  blow  at  the  power  of  the  Scottish  nobles. 
They  were  not  placed  by  any  means  on  the  same  level  with  the 
peers  of  the  sister  kingdom.  It  brought  to  the  commons,  who 
during  this  period  had  been  much  despised  and  oppressed,  an  in- 
crease in  dignity  and  independence,  by  admitting  them  to  a  share  in 
the  liberty  and  privileges  which  the  commons  of  England  had  won 
for  themselves  with  the  sword.  But  what  did  even  more  for  the 
prosperity  of  Scotland  was  the  removal  of  all  restrictions  on  her 
trade,  which  was  now  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  that  of  the 
larger  kingdom.  For  half  a  century  after  the  union  of  the  Crowns 
she  had  enjoyed  free  trade  with  England  and  her  colonies;  but  that 
was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  Navigation  Act,  passed  soon  after  the 
Restoration,  which  forbade  the  importing  of  any  foreign  goods  into 
England  except  in  Engh'sh  vessels,  and  which  was,  as  the  Scots 
justly  complained,  the  ruin  of  their  rising  commerce. 


868  SCOTLAND 

1603-1707 

Between  the  union  of  the  Crowns  and  the  union  of  the  parlia- 
ments there  w'as  but  httle  advance  in  hterature  or  art.  This  was  in 
great  part  owing'  to  the  fact  that,  just  when  all  other  nations  had 
taken  to  writing-  in  their  own  tongues  in  place  of  Latin,  the  Scottish 
Court  migrated  to  London.  There  the  Northumbrian  English, 
which  was  the  common  speech  of  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland,  was 
despised  as  a  provincial  dialect,  in  which  no  educated  man  would 
write  if  he  wished  his  writings  to  be  read.  During  this  period  the 
talent  that  was  to  be  found  in  the  country  was  enlisted  in  the  re- 
ligious struggle,  which  occupied  all  men's  minds,  and  it  produced 
many  divines  eminent  for  eloquence  and  learning.  The  literature 
of  the  times  was,  like  the  fighting,  the  tyranny,  and  the  persecutions, 
chiefly  of  a  religious  character.  There  were  many  men  of  learning 
and  talent,  renowned  either  for  their  writings  or  from  their  elo- 
quence, to  be  found  among  the  leaders  of  the  different  sects. 
Among  the  Presbyterians  the  most  eminent  were  John  Welch,  the 
son-in-law  of  Knox ;  Alexander  Henderson ;  Guthrie,  the  martyr 
of  the  Remonstrants,  and  George  Gillespie,  who,  from  his  gift  for 
argument,  was  called  the  "  Hammer  of  the  Malignants."  The 
Episcopal  Church  could  boast  of  some  scholarly  divines,  such  as 
John  and  Patrick  Forbes,  and  Leighton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow. 
Of  poets  there  were  but  few,  none  who  could  bear  comparison  with 
those  of  an  earlier  time.  Many  of  the  beautiful  ballads  and  songs 
of  which  Scotland  may  justly  be  proud  must  have  been  composed 
about  this  time,  but  the  authors  are  unknown.  Unknown  also,  or 
forgotten,  are  the  musicians  to  whom  Scotland  owes  the  wild,  sweet 
strains  to  which  those  songs  were  sung,  those  pathetic  melodies 
which  make  the  national  music  so  peculiar  and  characteristic  in  its 
exquisite  beauty.  But  the  spirit  of  the  Covenant  was  opposed  to 
art.  Though  it  inspired  to  heroic  deeds,  there  were  no  songs  made 
about  them.  Architecture  fared  even  worse  than  poetry,  for  while 
churches,  the  work  of  former  ages,  were  pulled  down,  any  new  ones 
that  were  put  up  were  as  ugly  and  tasteless  as  it  was  possible  to 
make  them.  Napier  of  Merchiston,  a  zealous  reformer,  the  writer 
of  an  "  Explanation  of  the  Apocalypse,"  is  known  in  the  world  of 
science  as  tlie  inventor  of  logarithms,  a  clever  and  easy  way  of 
shortening  difficult  numerical  calculations. 

The  union  of  the  Crowns  of  England  and  Scotland  put  a  stop 
to  the  constant  skirmishing  on  the  border  and  to  the  devastating 
inroads   which    had    for   centuries    embittered    the    two   countries 


UNION     OF     THE     CROWNS  359 

1603-1707 

against  one  another.  It  might  therefore  have  been  expected  that 
Scotland,  during  the  century  which  passed  between  the  union  of 
the  Crowns  and  the  union  of  the  parhaments,  would  have  made 
great  social  advances.  This  was  prevented  by  the  ceaseless  party 
strife  which  disgraced  the  century,  and  made  this  period  one  of  the 
most  disastrous  and  oppressive  to  the  people  in  the  whole  history 
of  the  nation,  James  VI.  had  found  the  strict  discipline  and  con- 
stant interference  of  the  ministers  so  irksome,  and  the  turbulent 
independence  of  his  nobles  so  little  to  his  mind,  that  he  was  de- 
lighted to  escape  from  both  to  the  richer  kingdom  to  which  his  good 
fortune  called  him.  The  severe  training  of  his  childhood  had  made 
him  hate  the  Presbyterian  polity  with  all  his  heart.  As  soon  as  he 
had  the  power,  he  changed  the  government  of  the  church,  and  intro- 
duced various  observances  which  were  hateful  to  the  people.  His 
son  Charles  went  a  step  further,  and  by  his  attempt  to  substitute  an 
English  for  a  Scottish  Liturgy  drove  the  people  to  revolt.  The 
war  thus  begun,  by  an  effort  to  force  on  the  hereditary  kingdom  of 
his  race  the  customs  of  the  larger  kingdom  which  his  father  had 
acquired,  ended  in  his  losing  both.  Scotland  enjoyed  a  short  gleam 
of  prosperity  from  the  conquest  of  Cromwell  till  his  death.  Under 
the  next  Stuart,  Charles  II.,  the  king  to  whom  she  had  always 
been  loyal,  the  government  was  intrusted  to  a  council,  which  ex- 
ercised a  cold-blooded  tyranny  against  which  the  people  had  no 
redress.  This  reign  of  terror  only  rooted  their  religious  prejudices 
the  more  firmly  in  their  minds.  \\'hen  the  tyrant  James  was  de- 
posed, the  reaction  of  popular  feeling  fell  heavily  on  the  clergy  of 
the  established  church,  who  individually  were  in  no  way  accountable 
for  the  crimes  which  had  been  committed  under  the  mask  of  zeal 
for  episcopacy.  Under  William  the  Presbyterian  polity  was  re- 
established, and  the  Episcopal  clergy  had  in  their  turn  to  suffer 
many  hardships  from  severe  laws  and  the  intolerance  of  party  feel- 
ing, though  nothing  to  compare  with  the  bloody  persecution  under 
the  form  of  law  which  had  disgraced  the  reigns  of  Charles  and 
James. 


Chapter  VIII 

DISCONTENT   WITH    THE    UNION.      1707-1846 

THOUGH  the  Union  was  such  a  good  thing  for  Scotland, 
the  people  were  a  long  time  in  finding  this  out.  The  old 
national  jealousy  was  roused;  they  thought  that  their 
dearly  loved  independence  was  being  sacrificed.  There  were  riots 
in  different  places ;  and  though  the  people  were  quieted  by  the  assur- 
ance that  the  insignia  of  royalty,  the  regalia  or  Crown  jewels,  should 
not  be  carried  out  of  the  kingdom,  for  long  afterward  the  Union 
was  very  unpopular  and  had  to  bear  the  blame  of  everything  that 
went  wrong.  There  was  still,  too,  a  large  party,  chiefly  in  the 
Highlands,  attached  to  James  Stuart,  known  as  the  Chevalier  de 
St.  George,  or  the  Old  Pretender,  as  the  Whigs  called  him.  Jacobit- 
ism,  which  was  in  England  a  mere  empty  word  used  to  express  any 
sort  of  discontent  with  the  existing  state  of  things,  meant  something 
more  in  Scotland.  There  it  was  the  traditionary  feeling  of  loyalty 
and  love  toward  the  ancient  line  of  kings ;  and  for  James,  their  rep- 
resentative, there  were  many  who  were  ready  to  venture  their  lands, 
or  their  life  if  need  were.  As  long  as  Anne  lived  there  was  no 
excuse  for  an  outbreak,  for  she,  too,  was  a  Stuart,  and  it  was  hoped 
that  her  brother  might  succeed  her. 

When  Anne  died,  the  son  of  Sophia,  George,  Elector  of  Han- 
over, succeeded  without  opposition,  according  to  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment. Before  long  he  and  his  German  favorites  became  very 
unpopular.  This  gave  the  Jacobites  hopes  that  if  they  raised  the 
standard  for  James,  all  the  discontented  in  both  kingdoms  would 
join  them  in  an  attempt  to  restore  him  to  the  throne  of  his  fathers. 
To  give  to  such  an  attempt  the  least  chance  of  success  three 
conditions  were  necessary.  Firstly,  that  the  rising  should  take 
place  at  the  same  time  in  both  kingdoms ;  secondly,  that  it  should  be 
helped  by  France;  and  thirdly,  that  the  prince  for  whom  it  was  made 
should  come  among  his  people  and  lead  them  in  person.  All  three 
were  wanting  in  this  unfortunate  rebellion.  James  made  no  per- 
sonal effort  to  get  the  Crown  on  the  death  of  his  sister,  though  six 
weeks  passed  before  George  came  over  from  Hanover.     During 

360 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION 


361 


1714-1715 

this  interval  James  issued  a  manifesto  from  Plombieres,  August  29, 
1 714.  In  this  manifesto  he  asserted  his  right  to  the  Crown,  and 
explained  that  he  had  remained  quiet  while  his  sister  lived,  because 
he  had  no  doubt  of  her  good  intentions  toward  him.  A  year,  how- 
ever, was  allowed  to  pass  before  any  active  steps  were  taken.  Just 
when  the  plans  for  the  rising  were  all  made,  Louis  XIV.  of  France, 
who  was  the  best  friend  the  Chevalier  had,  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  the  next  heir,  his  great-grandson,  an  infant.  The  Duke  of 
Orleans,  who  became  regent,  was  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  the 


Government  of  England ;  indeed  his  regency  was  one  of  the  few 
times  when  there  was  any  real  friendliness  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. By  his  order  some  ships  lying  at  Havre,  which  had  been 
fitted  out  for  James,  were  unloaded,  and  the  arms  stored  in  the 
royal  magazines.  These  ships  were  intended  for  the  succor  of  the 
rebels  in  Scotland,  where  the  standard  was  raised  for  James  by 
John  Erskine.  Earl  of  Mar,  at  the  junction  of  the  Cluny  and  the 
Dee,  September  6,  171 5.  Mar  had  begun  life  as  a  Whig,  but  had 
changed  sides  so  often  that  he  was  nicknamed  "  Bobbing  John." 
He  had  addressed  a  loyal  letter  to  King  George  on  his  accession, 
but  as,  by  the  change  of  ministry,  he  lost  his  office  of  Secretary  of 


362  SCOTLAND 

1718 

State  for  Scotland  and  saw  no  hope  of  getting  it  back  again,  he 
became  an  ardent  Jacobite,  and  the  leader  of  the  party  in  Scotland. 
Before  his  coming  North  he  sent  letters  to  the  principal  Jacobites, 
inviting  them  to  a  hunting-match.  This  meeting  was  attended  by 
the  Marquises  of  Huntly  and  Tullibardine,  the  eldest  sons  of  the 
Dukes  of  Gordon  and  Athole,  by  Glengarry,  the  chief  of  the  Mac- 
Donalds,  and  many  others.  They  all  swore  to  be  true  to  one 
another,  and  to  Mar,  as  James's  general,  and  then  returned  to  their 
several  districts  to  raise  their  followers.  Only  sixty  men  gathered 
at  the  raising  of  the  standard,  but  before  the  end  of  the  month  the 
northern  clans  had  risen.  James  was  proclaimed  at  Aberdeen, 
Brechin,  and  Dundee,  and  nearly  all  the  country  north  of  the  Tay 
was  soon  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  They  laid  a  plan  for  seizing 
Edinburgh  Castle,  but  this  was  found  out  and  defeated. 

There  were  at  this  time  not  more  than  between  8000  and  9000 
troops  in  the  whole  island.  Of  these,  not  more  than  1500  were  in 
Scotland;  and  no  more  were  sent  there,  for  an  expected  rising  in 
the  southwestern  counties  of  England  was  then  thought  much  more 
dangerous  than  the  rising  in  the  North.  In  Scotland  the  chief  com- 
mand was  given  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  whose  family  were  deadly 
enemies  of  the  Stuarts,  and  whose  almost  princely  power  over  a 
large  tract  of  country  made  him  the  most  likely  person  to  counteract 
their  influence.  The  Earl  of  Sutherland,  who  was  also  a  friend 
of  the  government,  was  sent  to  raise  his  followers  in  the  North. 
The  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  suspended  by  act  of  Parliament,  a 
reward  of  100,000/.  was  offered  for  seizing  the  Pretender,  dead  or 
alive,  and  the  king  was  empowered  to  seize  all  suspected  persons.  A 
great  number  of  suspected  persons  were  summoned  to  Edinburgh  to 
give  security  for  their  good  conduct,  but  none  of  them  came;  indeed 
some  were  by  this  summons  induced  to  take  arms  for  James.  Sev- 
eral noted  Jacobites  were  put  in  ward  in  Edinburgh  Castle. 

The  active  measures  taken  by  the  government  had  put  down 
the  intended  rising  in  the  West  of  England,  but  in  the  North  they 
had  only  hurried  it  on.  An  order  was  sent  down  for  the  arrest  of 
i^'orster,  member  for  Northumberland,  and  James  Radcliffe,  Earl 
of  Derwcntwater,  whereupon  Forster  and  Derwentwater  took  up 
arms  at  once.  About  the  same  time  Lord  Kenmure  proclaimed 
James,  and  was  joined  by  three  earls  and  other  persons  of  note.  He 
joined  liis  force  with  that  of  Forster,  and  they  marched  to  Kelso, 
to  wait  there  for  the  arrival  of  a  detachment  from  Mar's  army. 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  363 

1715-1716 

The  combined  force,  about  2000  strong,  marched  along  the  border. 
After  much  debate  and  hesitation,  their  leaders  at  last  decided  to 
enter  Lancashire,  where  they  expected  the  Roman  Catholic  gentry 
to  rise  and  join  them.  The  posse  comitatus,  or  general  muster, 
fled  before  them  at  Penrith.  After  this  success  the  rebels  marched 
on,  proclaiming  James  as  they  went  and  levying  money.  On  No- 
vember 9  they  reached  Preston,  where  they  were  joined  by  an  ill- 
armed,  undisciplined  rabble  of  recruits.  But  on  the  appearance  of 
the  king's  troops  Forster  made  no  effort  to  defend  the  town.  He 
was  seized  with  a  panic,  and  surrendered  with  his  followers,  to  the 
number  of  1400,  November  12. 

Meanwhile  Mar  was  managing  the  affairs  of  James  almost  as 
badly  in  Scotland.  He  entered  Perth,  September  28,  with  a  force  of 
5000.  On  October  2  a  detachment  of  eighty  horse  captured  a 
vessel  with  three  hundred  stand  of  arms.  The  vessel  had  been 
driven  by  stress  of  weather  to  seek  shelter.  Instead  of  pushing  on 
while  his  followers  were  inspirited  by  this  success,  Mar  stayed 
at  Perth  doing  nothing.  The  Duke  of  Argyle.  who  was  sent  to 
oppose  him,  arrived  in  Scotland  in  the  middle  of  September.  He 
had  then  only  1500  men  at  his  command,  but  before  Mar  made 
any  attempt  to  engage  him  his  army  had  been  more  than  doubled 
by  reinforcements  from  Ireland.  It  was  not  till  November  10  that 
Mar  left  Perth.  On  Sunday,  the  13th,  the  two  armies  advanced  to 
meet  each  other,  and  a  battle  w^as  fought  at  Sheriffmuir.  The 
result  was  doubtful.  Each  arni}^  defeated  and  put  to  flight  the  left 
wing  of  the  other  and  then  drew  off  the  field,  and  both  lost  about 
the  same  number  of  men.  Each  side  claimed  the  victory,  but 
Argyle  took  possession  of  the  field  the  next  day.  After  the  battle 
Argyle  went  back  to  Stirling  and  Mar  to  Perth.  There  the  clans 
began  to  desert  him,  going  home  as  usual  with  their  plunder,  while 
Argyle's  force  was  increased  by  6000  Dutch  troops. 

James  at  last  made  his  appearance,  but  not  till  his  followers 
had  l)een  taken  prisoners  in  the  one  country  and  had  lost  their  spirit 
in  the  other.  He  landed  at  Peterhead.  December  22,  attended  by 
only  six  persons.  He  was  met  by  Mar,  and  went  on  to  Scone, 
whence  he  issued  six  proclamations,  and  fixed  his  coronation  for 
January  23.  The  news  of  his  landing  had  somewhat  revived  the 
spirit  of  his  followers,  but  when  they  met  both  parties  were  disap- 
pointed;  James  with  their  scanty  numbers,  and  they  with  his  heavi- 
ness and  stupidity.     Soon  after   a  vessel  coming  from  France  with 


364.  SCOTLAND 

1716-1724 

gold  for  the  rebels  was  stranded  and  the  money  lost.  At  last  Argyle 
began  to  advance  against  James,  who  retreated  from  Perth,  greatly 
to  the  disgust  of  the  clans.  From  Perth  they  went  to  Dundee,  and 
from  there  to  Montrose.  Twelve  hours  after  they  had  left  Perth 
Argyle  entered  it,  but  he  was  so  slack  in  his  pursuit  of  the  rebels 
as  to  give  rise  to  suspicions  of  his  own  loyalty.  A  few  days  later, 
I'^bruary  4,  James  set  sail  secretly  for  France  with  Mar  and  several 
other  nobles.  He  left  a  letter  for  Argyle,  and  all  the  money  he  had 
with  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  people  in  the  villages  round 
Perth,  which  had  been  burned  by  his  order.  His  men,  grieved  and 
disappointed  to  find  that  their  leader  had  deserted  them,  went  back 
to  their  native  glens.  Most  of  the  officers  escaped  to  the  Orkneys, 
and  thence  to  the  Continent. 

Few  prisoners  had  been  made  in  Scotland.  Of  those  taken  at 
Preston,  the  half-pay  officers  were  at  once  shot  as  deserters,  the 
common  soldiers  were  imprisoned  in  Chester  and  Liverpool,  while 
their  leaders  were  taken  up  to  London,  which  they  entered  with 
their  hands  tied  behind  them  and  their  horses  led.  Six  nobles  were 
arraigned  before  the  House  of  Lords  on  a  charge  of  treason.  All 
except  one  pleaded  guilty  and  threw  themselves  on  the  king's  grace ; 
but  they  were  all  condemned  to  death.  This  sentence  was  executed 
on  Derwentwater  only.  Three  were  reprieved  and  two  escaped. 
Of  those  lower  in  rank,  twenty-two  were  hanged  in  Lancashire  and 
four  in  London.  An  Act  of  Grace,  passed  in  171 7,  released  all 
who  were  still  in  prison ;  but  it  did  not  restore  the  estates  which  they 
had  forfeited  by  their  treason.  The  following  year  another  Jacobite 
conspiracy  arose.  Li  this  both  Spain  and  Sweden  were  concerned ; 
Spain  promised  to  help  with  money,  while  Charles  XIL  of  Sweden 
was  to  invade  Scotland  with  12,000  soldiers.  It  was  discovered, 
and  prevented  by  the  arrest  of  the  persons  suspected  of  sharing  in  it. 

Li  1713  it  was  proposed  to  extend  the  malt-tax  which  was  paid 
in  England,  to  Scotland.  But  this  measure  met  with  such  strong 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Scottish  members  as  almost  to  threaten 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  At  length,  in  1724,  a  duty  of  three- 
pence on  every  barrel  of  ale  was  laid  on  instead  of  the  malt-tax. 
But  though  this  time  the  members  agreed  to  the  new  tax,  the  people 
w^ould  not,  and  a  serious  riot  broke  out  at  Glasgow.  Two  compa- 
nies of  foot  were  sent  from  Edinburgh  to  put  down  tlie  tumult, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Bushell,  who  ordered  his  men  to  fire, 
whereby  nine  persons  were  killed  and  many  more  wounded.     This 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  365 

1719-1736 

only  made  the  rioters  more  furious,  and  Bushell  narrowly  escaped 
from  them.  The  tumult  was  not  put  down  till  General  Wade 
brought  up  a  force  large  enough  to  overawe  the  mob,  and  sent  the 
magistrates  prisoners  to  Edinburgh,  There  they  were  tried  and 
acquitted.  To  avoid  paying  the  tax,  the  brewers  of  Edinburgh 
made  a  compact  to  brew  no  more  beer  if  the  duty  were  not  taken  off. 
In  consequence  of  these  disorders  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State 
for  Scotland  was  abolished,  because  the  Duke  of  Roxburgh,  who 
held  it,  was  suspected  of  encouraging  the  discontent.  At  length  the 
Earl  of  Islay  was  sent  down  to  Edinburgh,  and  succeeded  in  restor- 
ing quietness.  Bushell  was  tried  for  murder  and  found  guilty,  but 
was  afterward  pardoned  and  promoted. 

Twelve  years  later  the  peace  was  again  broken  by  a  tumult  at 
Edinburgh.  One  Wilson,  a  smuggler,  lying  under  sentence  of 
death  for  having  taken  part  in  a  fray  in  which  a  Custom-house 
officer  was  killed,  had  won  the  sympathy  of  the  people  by  the  clever 
way  in  which  he  had  managed  the  escape  of  a  fellow-prisoner. 
When  he  was  hanged  at  the  Grass  Market  the  mob  pelted  the  guard 
with  stones.  On  this  Porteous,  captain  of  the  City  Guard,  ordered 
his  men  to  fire,  and  several  innocent  persons  in  the  crowd  were  killed 
and  wounded.  Porteous  was  tried,  and  condemned  to  death  as  a 
murderer,  but  a  reprieve  was  sent  down  from  London.  Then  the 
people  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands.  On  the  evening  before 
the  day  which  had  been  fixed  for  the  execution  of  the  sentence, 
while  Porteous  was  feasting,  they  gathered,  disarmed  the  City 
Guard,  broke  into  the  prison  and  took  Porteous  out  and  hanged  him. 
Then  they  dispersed,  without  noise  or  further  violence,  and  the  ring- 
leaders were  never  discovered.  The  government  brought  in  a  bill 
for  disgracing- the  city  by  the  loss  of  the  charter  and  the  razing  of 
the  gates.  But  this  measure  was  not  carried,  and  tlie  only  penalties 
inflicted  were  that  Wilson,  the  Provost,  v/as  declared  incapable  of 
holding  office  in  future,  and  that  the  city  was  fined  2000/.  for  the 
benefit  of  Porteous'  widow. 

In  1 7 19  there  was  a  small  attempt  made  to  get  up  another 
Jacobite  rising,  favored  by  Spain,  with  which  country  England  was 
then  at  war.  The  Marquis  of  Tullibardine  landed  with  a  body  of 
300  Spanish  soldiers.  But  the  stores  and  arms  which  were  to  have 
been  sent  to  him  were  lost  on  the  way,  and,  though  about  2000 
Highlanders  mustered,  they  were  defeated  at  Glenshiel  by  the  reg- 
ular troops.     The  Highlanders  fled  to  the  hills,  while  the  Spaniards 


366  SCOTLAND 

1719-1745 

surrendered,  and  thus  the  attempt  came  to  nothing.  But  the  clans 
were  still  unsubdued,  and  were  ready  to  break  out  again  at  any  time. 
General  Wade,  who  had  been  commander-in-chief  since  171 5, 
made  excellent  roads  in  many  places  where  there  had  been  none 
before,  and  an  act  was  passed  for  disarming  the  Highlanders. 
But  this  did  more  harm  than  good.  The  clans  that  were  faithful 
to  the  government  gave  up  their  arms;  but  this  only  made  them 
unable  to  resist  the  rebels,  who  kept  theirs  hidden  and  ready  for  use 
when  occasion  should  come.  England  was  now  engaged  in  a  con- 
tinental war;  most  of  the  troops  were  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  the 
time  seemed  favorable  for  another  effort.  France,  too,  promised 
help.  Early  in  1744  an  army  of  1500  men  under  the  command  of 
Marshal  Saxe,  one  of  the  most  skillful  generals  in  the  French  serv- 
ice, was  collected  at  Dunkirk,  and  embarked  in  French  transports 
for  the  invasion  of  England.  But  the  fleet  was  dispersed  by  a 
storm,  and  the  French  were  unwilling  to  give  any  further  help. 
The  next  year  Charles  Edward,  son  of  the  Old  Pretender,  called 
the  Young  Chevalier,  who  was  to  have  led  this  expedition,  deter- 
mined to  make  a  venture  on  his  own  account.  Without  money, 
without  arms,  with  only  seven  followers,  he  landed  on  the  west 
coast  of  Inverness,  and  called  on  the  Jacobite  clans  to  muster  and 
follow  him,  July  25,  1745.  In  vain  their  chiefs,  headed  by  Cameron 
of  Lochiel,  pointed  out  to  him  the  rash  folly  of  such  an  enterprise. 
He  persisted,  and  they,  letting  loyalty  get  the  better  of  common 
sense,  took  up  the  cause  and  summoned  their  clansmen.  The 
standard  of  James  was  raised  at  Glenfillan,  August  19,  and  the  com- 
mission, naming  Charles  regent  in  his  stead,  w'as  read  to  about  a 
hundred  motley  but  enthusiastic  followers.  Already  a  small  band 
of  them  had  had  a  foretaste  of  victory.  On  their  way  to  the  muster 
they  had  compelled  two  companies  of  regular  troops  to  lay  down 
their  arms.  This  was  followed  by  a  series  of  successes  as  unlocked 
for  as  they  were  extraordinary.  Sir  Jolm  Cope  was  sent  to  oppose 
the  rebels  with  all  the  troops  that  the  government  could  raise.  But 
he  mismanaged  matters,  and  let  tlie  Highland  army,  which  was 
gathering  on  its  way,  pass  him.  While  he  went  northward  it  came 
down  unopposed  upon  the  Lowlands,  entered  Perth,  and  advanced 
toward  Edinburgh,  where  James  was  proclaimed. 

Tlie  citizens  were  in  the  greatest  alarm  wlien  they  heard  that 
the  Highlanders  had  crossed  the  Forth.  A  small  band  of  volunteers 
and  a  regiment  of  dragoons  fled  at  the  first  shots.     Charles  sum- 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  367 

1745-1746 

moned  the  city  to  surrender;  the  perplexed  magistrates,  not  know- 
ing what  to  do,  tried  to  win  time  by  sending  repeated  messages  to 
Charles.  But  early  the  following  morning  a  body  of  500  Camerons 
under  Lochiel  surprised  and  entered  one  of  the  city  gates,  opened 
the  other  gates,  and  thus  the  city  was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels. 
At  noon  of  the  same  day  the  heralds  and  pursuivants  were  obliged 
to  proclaim  James  at  the  Cross  as  King  James  VIII.,  and  to  read 
his  Royal  Declaration  and  the  Commission  of  Regency.  Charles 
entered  the  city  the  same  day,  September  17,  and  took  up  his  quar- 
ters in  the  Palace  of  llolyrood.  That  night  all  the  Jacobites  in  tlie 
city  gathered  at  a  ball  to  celebrate  his  arrival. 

Meanwhile  Cope  had  brought  back  his  troops  by  sea  and 
landed  them  at  Dunbar.  Charles  marched  out  from  Edinburgh  to 
meet  him.  At  a  village  near  Preston  Pans,  so-called  from  the  pans 
used  there  for  crystallizing  the  sea-salt,  the  Highlanders  defeated 
the  regular  troops,  and  came  back  triumphant  to  Edinburgh  with 
the  money  and  the  cannon  which  they  had  taken,  September  20. 
Charles  lingered  at  Edin1)urgh  till  November  i,  when  he  began  his 
march  toward  England  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  5000  to  6000 
men.  Carlisle  surrendered  to  Charles,  who  marched  on  unresisted 
as  far  as  Derby,  which  he  reached  on  December  4.  Charles  was 
now  two  days'  march  nearer  London  than  the  army  under  William 
Augustus,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  son  of  George  II.,  which  had  been 
sent  to  oppose  him.  A  panic  prevailed  in  London,  where  the  citi- 
zens expected  hourly  to  see  the  wild  Highlanders  enter  and  spoil 
the  city.  Their  fears  were,  however,  unfounded.  Jealousies  and 
discord  were  rife  among  the  rebel  chiefs.  At  Derby,  Charles  held 
a  council  of  war.  Some  of  his  officers  advised  one  thing,  some 
another.  But  as  they  would  not  agree  to  march  on  to  London 
without  delay,  Charles,  sorely  against  his  will,  was  obliged  to  give 
the  order  for  retreat,  and  to  lead  his  dispirited  followers  back  again 
as  quickly  as  they  had  come.  Cumberland  followed  close  on  their 
rear. 

When  Charles  reached  Stirling  his  army  was  joined  by  rein- 
forcements which  raised  its  number  to  8000  or  9000.  He  prepared 
to  lay  siege  to  the  castle.  The  relieving  force  was  shamefully 
defeated,  but  Charles  did  not  follow  up  his  advantage  by  pursuing 
the  royal  army.  The  next  day  he  went  on  with  the  siege  of  Stirling. 
The  Duke  of  Cumljerland  was  now  sent  North,  with  full  power  to 
put  down  the  rebellion  as  he  pleased.     He  reached  Edinburgh  Jan- 


368  SCOTLAND 

1746 

iiary  30,  and  the  very  next  day  set  out  at  the  head  of  an  army  in 
quest  of  the  rebels.  Charles  raised  the  siege  of  Stirling  and  hurried 
North.  lie  entered  Inverness,  and  took  Forts  George  and  Augus- 
tus, where  he  found  supplies  of  food,  guns,  and  powder,  of  which 
his  army  stood  in  great  need. 

Meanwhile  the  king's  troops  were  closing  round  the  rebels,  who, 
cooped  up  in  the  barren  mountains,  were  reduced  to  the  greatest 
straits.  All  supplies  sent  from  France  were  cut  off  before  they 
reached  them,  and  for  several  days  they  had  no  food  but  a  little  raw 
oatmeal.  It  was  plain  that  the  battle  that  was  unavoidable  must 
be  a  defeat.  Culloden  Moor  was  the  scene  of  this,  the  last  battle 
fought  on  British  ground.  The  rebels,  who  were  nearly  starving, 
and  who  had  been  w^orn  out  by  a  long  march  and  an  attempted 
night-attack  that  had  altogether  failed,  soon  gave  way,  and  were 
easily  routed  by  the  duke's  well-disciplined  and  nearly  twice  as 
numerous  army,  April  16,  1746.  The  French  auxiliaries  fled 
toward  Inverness,  where  they  laid  down  their  arms.  The  rebels 
lost  1000  men,  a  fifth  of  their  w^hole  number;  the  victors  only  310. 
About  1200  of  the  fugitives  rallied  once  more,  but  Charles  begged 
tliem  to  disperse,  and  every  man  sought  his  own  safety  as  he  best 
might.  The  after  measures  of  the  victors  were  disgraceful  to  all 
concerned.  No  quarter  was  given;  the  wounded  were  slaughtered 
in  cold  blood,  or  burned  in  the  houses  to  which  they  had  crawled  for 
shelter.  For  three  months  martial  law  prevailed;  the  country  was 
wasted,  the  houses  burned,  the  cattle  lifted,  the  people  left  to  perish. 
It  was  not  till  July  that  the  duke,  who  in  Scotland  was  called  "  the 
Butcher,"  went  back  to  London,  where  he  W'as  hailed  as  the  deliverer 
of  his  country,  and  rewarded  with  a  pension  of  25,000/.  a  year. 

Charles,  whose  foolhardy  ambition  had  brought  all  this  misery 
on  his  simple  followers,  passed  five  months  in  perilous  wanderings. 
A  great  price  was  set  on  his  head,  but,  poor  as  the  Highlanders 
were,  not  one  of  them  would  stoop  to  win  it  by  betraying  him.  At 
one  time,  when  he  was  tracked  by  the  soldiers,  he  was  saved  by  a 
young  lady  called  Flora  MacDonald,  who  got  a  passport  for  him 
under  the  name  of  Betty  Burke,  her  maid.  In  this  disguise  he 
escaped  to  Skye.  After  this  he  came  back  to  the  mainland,  and 
lived  for  some  time  with  seven  robbers  in  a  cave.  They  kept  him 
hidden  and  supplied  his  wants  as  well  as  they  could,  and  used  to  go 
in  disguise  to  the  nearest  town  to  pick  up  what  news  they  could. 
When  he  left  them  Charles  joined  two  of  his  adherents,  and  he  and 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  369 

1746-1747 

they  stayed  in  a  strange  hiding-place  called  the  Cage  on  the  side 
of  Ben-alder,  till  two  French  vessels  appeared  on  the  coast.  In 
one  of  these  he  embarked,  September  20.  Thus  Charles  escaped  to 
the  Continent,  but  his  memory  was  long  cherished  in  the  country 
that  had  suffered  so  much  for  him.  He  was  compelled  to  leave 
France  after  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  ended  an  unsettled, 
discontented,  dissipated  life  at  Rome  in  1788.  His  brother  Henry, 
called  the  Cardinal  of  York,  the  last  of  the  Stuart  line,  survived 
him  nearly  twenty  years. 

There  was  much  greater  severity  shown  after  this  rebellion 
than  there  had  been  after  that  in  1715.  The  Scottish  prisoners  were 
brought  for  trial  to  England  for  fear  that  they  might  meet  with  too 
much  partiality  in  their  own  country.  John  Murray,  of  Broughton, 
who  had  been  Charles's  secretary,  turned  informer.  Through  him 
the  secrets  of  this  conspiracy  which  had  been  going  on  ever  since 
1740  were  brought  to  light.  Charles  Radcliffe,  brother  to  the  Earl 
of  Derwentwater  (beheaded  in  1716),  and  who  had  escaped  from 
prison,  was  retaken  on  board  a  French  vessel  carrying  supplies  to 
the  rebels,  and  was  put  to  death  on  his  former  sentence.  The  Earls 
of  Cromarty  and  Kilmarnock  and  Lord  Balmerino  were  brought  up 
for  trial  before  the  House  of  Lords,  found  guilty,  and  two  were 
beheaded.  Nearly  a  year  after,  Simon  Eraser,  Lord  Lovat,  was 
brought  up  for  trial ;  he  was  found  guilty,  chiefly  on  the  evidence 
of  Murray,  was  condemned,  and  beheaded.  He  had  acted  a  double 
part  throughout,  for,  though  he  had  taken  part  in  all  the  plans  of 
the  rebels,  he  had  taken  care  not  to  join  them  in  person.  Of  those 
lower  in  rank  about  eighty  were  condemned  to  death,  and  great 
numbers  were  sent  to  the  plantations.  The  last  sufferer  for  the 
Jacobite  cause  was  Dr.  Cameron,  brother  of  Lochiel.  He  escaped 
after  1745,  but  when  he  returned  to  England  in  1753  he  was  seized 
and  suffered  death  as  a  traitor,  though  he  protested  that  he  had 
never  borne  arms  against  the  king,  and  had  been  with  the  rebel  force 
only  as  a  surgeon  and  not  as  a  soldier.  An  Act  of  Lideninity  was 
at  length  passed,  in  1747,  from  which,  however,  eighty  persons 
were  excepted.  Though  the  end  of  tliis  unjustifiable  and  unfor- 
tunate rebellion  was  what  e\'eryone  must  have  foreseen,  its  tempor- 
ary and  unlooked-for  success  showed  how  necessary  it  was  to  take 
strong  measures  for  breaking  up  the  old  Highland  system.  A  bill 
was  passed  for  disarming  the  clans,  and  to  forbid  the  wearing  of  the 
Highland  dress,  and  at  the  same  time  heritable  jurisdictions  were 


370  SCOTLAND 

1747-1749 

abolished.  The  Episcopal  Church,  whose  attachment  to  the  Stuarts 
was  well  known,  suffered  severely.  Their  building-s  were  destroyed, 
and  the  ministrations  of  the  clergy  forbidden.  Duncan  Forbes,  of 
Culloden,  the  president  of  the  Court  of  Session,  though  a  firm  friend 
of  the  government,  distinguished  himself  throughout  the  rebellion 
by  his  efforts  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  justice.  Before  it  broke 
out  he  had  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  keep  the  rising  down, 
and  after  it  had  been  crushed,  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  lessen  the 
sufferings  of  the  rebels  and  the  severity  of  the  government.  To 
the  discredit  of  the  ministry  and  of  the  country,  his  services  were 
left  unrewarded. 

In  1756  the  lawfulness  of  negro  slavery  was  first  questioned  in 
Scotland,  and  twenty  years  later  it  was  settled  that  negro  slavery 
should  exist  no  longer.  There  were  still,  however,  some  natives  of 
the  soil  who  were  in  a  state  very  little  better.  The  colliers  and 
salters  were  sold  like  serfs  with  the  works  in  which  they  toiled. 
This  shameful  servitude  was  not  the  remains  of  ancient  villanage, 
but  had  simply  arisen  out  of  custom.  So  strong,  however,  had 
the  force  of  custom  made  it,  that  Parliament  did  not  venture  at  once 
to  sweep  it  away.  It  w^as  settled  that  all  the  colliers  and  salters 
born  after  a  certain  date  should  be  free,  and  those  then  at  work  after 
a  certain  term  of  service.  In  1799  their  freedom  was  established 
by  law. 

When  the  penal  laws  against  the  Roman  Catholics  in  England 
were  repealed  in  1778  Henry  Dundas,  the  Lord  Advocate,  pro- 
posed a  similar  measure  for  Scotland.  On  the  strength  of  this, 
riots  broke  out  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  In  Edinburgh  the  mob 
destroyed  the  Roman  Catholic  chapels  and  the  houses  of  several 
persons  who  were  suspected  of  being  Catholics.  In  Glasgow  they 
destroyed  a  factory  belonging  to  a  Catholic.  So  great  was  the 
excitement  raised  throughout  the  country  by  the  fanatics,  who  bound 
themselves  together  in  Protestant  Associations,  and  the  property 
and  persons  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  treated  with  such  vio- 
lence, that  they  themselves  petitioned  that  the  bill  might  be  dropped. 
It  was  not  till  1793  that  a  bill  was  brought  in  and  passed  without 
opposition  to  relieve  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Scotland  from  the 
penalties  to  which  they  were  liable  on  account  of  their  religious 
opinions. 

The  excesses  of  the  French  Revolution  led  to  a  reaction  of  feel- 
ing in  Great  Britain  against  all  liberal  opinions,  as  being  likely  to 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  371 

1793-1832 

bring  about  a  similar  revolution  in  this  country.  This  led  to  much 
injustice  and  oppression.  Persons  were  charged  with  stirring  up 
sedition  on  the  slightest  grounds,  or  on  no  grounds  at  all;  were 
found  guilty,  and  punished  on  the  most  scanty  evidence.  In  Scot- 
land the  panic  was  even  greater  than  in  England,  and  the  proceed- 
ings of  justice  more  unjust.  In  1793  Thomas  Muir,  an  advocate, 
and  Fyshe  Palmer,  a  clergyman,  were  tried,  and  sentenced  to 
transportation,  the  one  for  fourteen  years,  the  other  for  seven,  for 
no  other  crime  than  that  of  discussing  parliamentary  reform. 
Others  suffered  a  like  fate;  and  though  these  cases  were  brought 
before  the  House  of  Commons,  and  though  the  sympathy  of  the 
people  was  with  them,  they  met  with  no  redress. 

It  was  not  till  nearly  forty  years  had  passed  that  the  reforms, 
for  suggesting  which  these  men  had  suffered,  and  the  need  of  which 
had  long  been  felt,  were  at  last  carried  out  by  the  passing  of  the 
Reform  Bill  in  1832.  By  it  the  entire  representation  was  remodeled. 
Up  to  this  time  the  country  franchise  had  depended  not  on  the 
possession  of  land,  but  on  the  right  of  superiority  over  land  which 
might  be  held  by  others.  This  right  could  be  bought  and  sold, 
and  was  quite  independent  of  property  or  residence  in  the  county, 
so  that  in  most  cases  there  were  but  a  handful  of  electors,  in  one 
county  only  one,  to  return  the  member.  The  franchise  was  now^  ex- 
tended to  all  persons  having  property  in  the  county  to  the  value  of 
10/.  yearly,  and  to  certain  classes  of  leaseholders.  The  case  of 
the  burghs  was  even  worse.  Only  the  royal  burghs  w-ere  repre- 
sented at  all,  and  these  were  grouped  together  and  returned  one 
member  only  for  each  group.  This  member  was  elected  by  dele- 
gates chosen  from  the  town  council  of  each  burgh,  so  that  the 
election  was  really  and  truly  in  the  hands  of  the  corporations.  By 
the  new  bill,  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  were  each  to  send  two  mem- 
bers to  parliament,  the  five  towns  next  in  importance  were  each  to 
send  one,  while  some  changes  were  made  in  the  grouping  of  the 
smaller  burghs.  The  members  for  the  burghs  were  to  be  elected 
by  householders  in  the  burghs  paying  10/.  yearly  rent.  The  number 
of  members  was  increased  from  forty-five  to  fifty-three. 

When  the  Presbyterian  polity  was  reestablished  by  law  in  1690 
the  Episcopalians  took  in  some  degree  the  place  which  had  l:)ecn  held 
by  the  Covenanters.  As  they  would  not  acknowledge  William  and 
Mary  as  lawful  sovereigns,  they  w-ere  looked  on  as  a  dangerous  and 
obstinate  sect   of   dissenters,   just   as   the   Cameronians   had   been 


372  SCOTLAND 

1707-1746 

considered  in  the  reigti  of  James.  They  had  been  turned  out  of 
the  churches,  but  they  were  forbidden  to  have  private  meeting- 
houses. In  Queen  Anne's  reign  an  Act  of  Toleration  was  passed 
to  protect  such  of  them  as  would  use  the  English  Liturgy  and  pray 
for  the  queen  in  the  course  of  the  service.  After  the  Rebellion  of 
1715  new  laws  were  passed  against  them;  the  validity  of  orders 
from  Scottish  bishops  was  called  in  question,  and  the  ministration 
of  all  clergymen  who  were  not  licensed  was  forbidden.  After  the 
Rebellion  of  1745  they  fared  still  worse;  many  of  their  meeting- 
houses were  burned  or  dismantled  by  Cumberland's  soldiers.  An 
act  was  passed  forbidding  any  clergyman  to  read  the  service  to 
more  than  five  persons  at  once,  and  no  letters  of  orders  were  con- 
sidered valid  unless  given  by  some  Irish  or  English  bishop.  In 
1755  a  clergyman  named  Connacher  was  accused  of  illegally  cele- 
brating marriages,  and  by  an  act  passed  against  the  Covenanters 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  he  w^as  banished,  and  forbidden  to  re- 
turn on  pain  of  death.  Hence  it  came  to  pass  that,  just  after  the 
two  kingdoms  were  politically  united,  they  were  more  widely  severed 
in  religious  opinion  than  they  had  ever  been  before,  so  that  a  con- 
scientious member  of  the  church  established  by  law  in  the  one  king- 
dom would  have  been  looked  on  as  a  dangerous  dissenter  in  the 
other.  It  was  not  till  1792  that  an  act  was  passed  relieving  the 
Episcopalians  from  the  penal  laws  in  force  against  them.  In  1784 
Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  from  Connecticut,  was  consecrated  by  three 
Scottish  bishops,  Petrie,  Skinner,  and  Kilgour  the  primus,  at 
Aberdeen.  Besides  the  Episcopalians  there  were  many  sects  of 
Presbyterians  who  seceded  from  the  Establishment  chiefly  on  the 
question  of  patronage.  At  last,  in  1843,  the  Church  of  Scotland 
split  into  two  parties.    This  is  called  the  Disruption. 

This  division  was  brought  about  by  a  dispute  about  the  right  of 
patrons  to  force  ministers  on  parishes,  whether  the  congregations 
objected  to  them  or  not.  The  spirit  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
had  always  been  opposed  to  patronage.  By  the  First  Book  of 
Discipline  it  had  been  laid  down  that  the  people  should  elect  their 
own  ministers ;  by  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  that  they  should 
at  least  have  the  right  of  objection  to  any  chosen  for  them  by  the 
heritors  or  landowners  in  the  parish.  After  the  Revolution,  an 
Act  of  1690  confirmed  them  in  this  privilege,  but  after  the  Union 
in  1 7 12  the  heritors,  eager  to  gain  what  they  thought  their 
rights,  obtained  a  repeal  of  this  act  and  the  restoration  of  their 


DISCONTENT    WITH    UNION  S73 

1707-1846 

former  powers.  In  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  people  and  of  the 
church,  this  act  gradually  became  custom  as  well  as  law,  and  led 
to  several  schisms;  for  those  congregations  who  did  not  choose 
to  have  ministers  forced  on  them  whom  they  did  not  approve 
broke  off,  and  founded  separate  sects.  At  length,  in  1834,  the 
Non-intrusion  party,  as  those  who  were  opposed  to  patronage  were 
called,  had  a  majority  in  the  Assembly,  and  passed  the  Veto  Act. 
This  act  declared  it  to  be  "  a  fundamental  law  of  the  church  that 
no  pastor  shall  be  intruded  on  a  congregation  contrary  to  the  will 
of  the  people,"  and  that,  if  the  heads  of  families  objected  to  any 
candidate  presented  by  the  patron,  the  Presbytery  should  reject 
him.  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Young  was  presented  to  the  parish 
of  Auchterarder,  in  Perthshire.  Several  persons  objected  to  him, 
and  the  Presbytery,  acting  on  the  Veto  Act,  rejected  him.  The 
patron  appealed  to  the  Court  of  Session  for  the  enforcement  of  his 
civil  rights  and  obtained  a  verdict  in  his  favor;  but  the  Presbytery 
appealed  to  the  Plouse  of  Pords.  Here,  too,  it  was  given  against 
them,  but  they  still  refused  to  make  trial  of  Mr.  Young.  In  an- 
other parish,  Strathbogie,  the  presentee,  Mr.  Edwards,  was  objected 
to  by  the  congregation,  and  the  Presbytery  refused  to  admit  him 
to  the  parish.  He  also  obtained  a  decree  in  his  favor  from  the 
Court  of  Session,  when  the  Presbytery  yielded,  and  for  this  they 
were  suspended  and  deposed  by  the  General  Assembly.  From  this 
it  was  clear  that  the  majority  in  the  Assembly  were  determined  to 
go  all  lengths  in  resisting  the  civil  power.  In  the  end  the  church 
had  to  yield,  and  to  recall  the  illegal  Veto  Act.  Rather  than  agree 
to  this,  in  1843  more  than  a  third  of  the  clergy  left  the  church. 
Their  leaders  were  Dr.  Chalmers  and  Dr.  Candlish.  Great  numbers 
of  tlie  people  v/ent  "  out."  as  it  was  called,  with  their  ministers, 
and  the  Free  Church  which  was  thus  originated  has  ever  since  been 
the  successful  rival  of  the  Establishment.  Patronage  was  finally 
abolished  by  Parliament  in  1S69. 

The  removal  of  the  government  to  London  attracted  thither 
not  only  all  the  Scottish  nobles,  but  also  all  the  wealthy  and  the 
ambitious  commoners.  Thus  Edinburgh  lost  much  of  its  importance 
through  the  Union,  though  it  still  remained  the  intellectual  cap- 
ital, where  the  members  of  the  courts  of  law  and  of  the  University 
took  the  lead  in  society.  Meanwhile  Glasgow,  the  capital  of  the 
West,  where  the  manufactures  which  were  first  introduced  by 
Duncan  Forbes  had  taken  firm  root,  gradually  rose  to  much  greater 


374  SCOTLAND 

1707-1846 

importance  in  wealth  and  commerce.  During  this  period  two  great 
elements  of  civilization,  productive  industry  and  intellectual  cul- 
ture, have  done  much  to  improve  the  Lowland  population,  among 
whom  book-learning  has  always  been  in  advance  of  material  com- 
fort. It  was  not  till  after  the  Rebellion  of  1745  that  the  spirit  of 
industry  first  began  to  animate  the  people.  But  the  Highlands 
remained  for  some  time  in  a  very  bad  state.  The  spirit  of  the  peo- 
ple was  broken,  and  the  severe  climate,  barren  soil,  and  lack  of 
minerals  left  them  no  resource  but  the  fisheries.  The  Highland 
Society,  founded  in  1784,  did  much  to  improve  the  state  of  agri- 
culture by  reclaiming  the  waste  districts ;  and  latterly  great  num- 
bers of  the  people  have  emigrated. 

An  important  economic  measure  was  the  removal  of  all 
restraints  upon  Scottish  trade.  The  Scots  had  previously  been  per- 
mitted to  trade  only  in  specified  places,  according  to  the  will  and 
consent  of  the  English  Government.  Now,  these  barriers  being 
removed,  their  ships  freely  sailing  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  there 
was  a  rapid  and  healthful  growth  of  commerce.  Incidentally,  this 
gave  an  impetus  to  the  construction  of  ships,  and  later  of  steamers. 
Scotland  quickly  took  the  first  place  among  the  shipbuilders  of  the 
world,  and  that  place  they  still  hold  after  two  centuries  of  competi- 
tion. This  freedom  of  trade  had  therefore  a  twofold  advantage, 
in  building  up  a  most  important  and  remunerative  branch  of  manu- 
facture as  well  as  developing  a  superb  system  of  commerce. 

The  growth  of  one  branch  of  manufacture  inevitably  leads  to 
the  growth  of  other  branches ;  and  a  vigorous  and  healthy  commerce 
both  sustains  and  is  sustained  by  the  variety  of  manufacture,  includ- 
ing all  articles  that  can  be  made  at  a  profit  without  the  aid  of 
artificial  devices,  such  as  bounties.  The  general  prosperity  of  the 
country  was  marked  by  the  increased  manufacture  of  those  articles 
that  can  reasonably  be  made  in  that  country.  Among  these  the 
most  important  are  woolens,  including  Tweed  cloths.  Paisley 
shawls,  and  Hawick  hosiery,  renowned  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  Next  in  importance  is  the  Scotch  whisky,  wdiich  has  hardly 
a  competitor  among  the  consumers  of  the  beverage  that  both  cheers 
and  inebriates.  Glass  and  paper,  in  excellent  quality,  are  also  made 
in  considerable  quantities.  Various  mining  industries  are  carried 
on,  but  the  only  products  of  the  first  importance  are  coal  and  iron. 
The  fisheries  of  Aberdeen  for  the  first  eleven  months  of  1901 
amounted  to  904,619  cwts.,  valued  at  $2,696,309.     These  industries, 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  375 

1707-1846 

aided  by  successful  farming,  have  contributed  to  general  and  pro- 
longed prosperity.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  history  to  the  year 
of  the  Union,  Scotland  was  perennially  on  the  verge  of  starvation. 
To-day,  evidences  of  prosperity  are  to  be  seen  on  every  side, — abun- 
dance of  food,  with  a  steady  demand  for  work  at  reasonable  remun- 
eration. 

When  the  Scots  began  to  emigrate  they  were  tempted  to  overdo 
the  act.  The  benefits  of  emigration  were  so  apparent  that  the  pop- 
ular movement  in  that  line  imperiled  the  country;  for  it  does  not 
follow  that  if  it  is  a  good  thing  for  one-tenth  of  the  population  to 
emigrate  it  is  also  good  for  nine-tenths.  The  tide  of  emigration 
ran  so  high  and  strong  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
that  there  was  danger  that  the  country  would  be  left  desolate  and 
relapse  into  barrenness.  Prompt  measures  were  taken  to  divert 
this  calamity.  The  means  used  for  this  purpose  were  the  develop- 
ment of  public  works,  especially  canals,  bridges,  and  roads. 

At  this  point  mention  should  be  made  of  the  great  Scottish 
engineer,  Thomas  Telford,  whose  name  is  favorably  perpetuated 
in  the  superb  roads  called  "  Telford  roads."  Born  in  Dumfriesshire 
in  1757,  he  early  removed  to  London,  where  his  talents  were  proved 
by  the  construction  of  the  Ellesmere  Canal,  the  aqueduct  bridge  over 
the  valley  of  the  Dee,  and  the  great  Catherine  docks.  He  was 
employed  to  project  public  improvements  in  Scotland.  The  monu- 
mental work  of  Scotland  w^as  the  Caledonian  Canal,  extending  from 
southwest  to  northeast  for  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  and  uniting 
the  west  coast  with  the  east  coast  of  that  country.  This  canal  w^as 
begun  in  1803,  and  though  opened  in  1822,  was  not  fully  completed 
until  1847. 

Other  works,  each  insignificant  when  compared  with  the  great 
canal,  but  all  of  them  in  the  aggregate  sinking  the  canal  itself  into 
insignificance,  were  constructed  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Scotland.  Everywhere  were  built  tlie  finest  of  roads  and  the 
most  perfect  of  bridges.  These  extensive  improvements  furnished 
remunerative  employment  to  a  vast  army  of  workmen  while  in 
process  of  construction,  and  when  they  were  finished  were  of  incal- 
culable value  to  all  classes  of  people.  Railroads  soon  followed. 
The  first  railroad — in  which  the  horse  was  at  the  outset  a  substitute 
for  the  locomotive — was  that  which  led  from  Kilmarnock  to  Troon, 
a  distance  of  a  scant  ten  miles,  and  was  opened  in  181 2.  It  was  a 
humble  start  for  the  railroad  system,  but  the  railroads  were  rapidly 


376  SCOTLAND 

1707-1846 

improved,  the  mileage  increased  annually,  and  for  many  yeari  the 
railroad  system  has  been  quite  sufficient  for  the  needs  of  the  country, 
and  a  credit  to  the  people.  Other  public  works  have  kept  pace  with 
the  growing  needs  of  the  community.  Thus,  by  steady  and  wise 
development,  the  material  prosperity  of  Scotland  has  grown  with 
remarkably  few  checks  or  breaks  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  and 
there  is  every  evidence  that  this  prosperity  will  continue  for  genera- 
tions to  come. 

The  separate  history  of  Scotland,  which  may  be  said  to  have 
ceased  with  the  Union,  is  chiefly  remarkable  from  its  unconnected 
and  fragmentary  character.  Each  of  the  periods  into  which  it  is 
naturally  divided  breaks  off  abruptly,  and  exercises  little  or  no 
influence  on  the  period  which  comes  after  it.  The  Celtic  system 
comes  to  an  end  with  the  last  of  the  Gaelic  kings.  During  the 
English  period  English  laws  and  English  customs  are  introduced, 
but  this  English  influence  is  suddenly  checked  by  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  the  period  which  begins  with  the  independent  king- 
dom is  no  more  the  natural  result  of  the  second  than  the  second  is 
of  the  first.  During  the  third  period  the  Roman  Law  is  introduced, 
and  France  takes  the  place  of  England  as  the  model  for  imitation. 
The  Scottish  system  of  representation,  which  became  fixed  during 
this  period,  had  much  more  in  common  with  the  French  National 
Assembly  than  with  the  English  Parliament.  The  Three  Estates, 
which  met  in  one  chamber,  were  the  church,  the  barons,  tliat  is,  the 
tenants  holding  direct  from  the  Crown,  and  the  burghers.  The 
commons  as  a  class  were  not  represented  at  all.  It  is  the  Reforma- 
tion which  first  brings  the  commons  into  notice.  The  feudal  char- 
acter of  the  legislature  and  of  the  national  representation  drove 
the  energies  of  the  people  into  the  only  channel  that  was  left  open 
to  them — that  of  religious  thought.  Hence  it  came  that  in  Scotland 
the  great  struggle  for  political  freedom  was  fought  out  under  tlie 
cloak  of  a  contest  for  liberty  of  conscience.  From  the  Reformation 
to  the  LTnion  the  history  of  the  country  is  little  but  the  record  of 
a  series  of  religious  wars.  The  history  of  Scotland  also  gives  us 
a  picture  of  pure  and  unmixed  feudalism.  The  feudal  system  whicli 
was  introduced  under  the  sons  of  ]\Ialcolm  and  Margaret  took 
much  firmer  root  in  Scotland  than  it  ever  did  in  England ;  and,  as 
it  was  here  imtouched  by  the  Common  Law  and  the  growth  of  the 
constitution  which  acted  as  checks  upon  it  in  England,  it  grew  to 
such  an  excess  of  power  that  it  quite  overshadowed  the  power  of 


DISCONTENT     WITH     UNION  377 

»707-1846 

the  Crown.  The  practice  of  making  hereditary  jurisdictions,  and 
of  granting  powers  of  regality,  still  further  increased  the  influence 
of  the  feudal  nobles.  Feudalism  existed  in  Scotland  long  after  it 
had  been  overthrown  in  England.  Its  power  was  first  broken  by 
the  act  which  was  passed  in  1748  for  abolishing  heritable  juris- 
dictions, and  even  after  that  act  it  continued  to  influence  the  rep- 
resentation. Feudalism  in  Scotland  was  not  finally  overthrown  till 
the  passing  of  the  first  Reform  Bill  in  1832.  Nor  was  it  till  after 
that  reform  that  the  Commons  of  Scotland  were  represented  at  all 
in  Parliament.  The  rebellions  in  favor  of  the  Stuarts  in  171 5 
and  1745,  though  they  were  the  cause  of  much  useless  bloodshed, 
led  to  very  happy  results  as  far  as  the  social  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try was  concerned.  The  abolition  of  the  heritable  jurisdictions  did 
much  good,  for  it  placed  agriculturists  in  a  much  freer  position, 
while  the  money  which  was  paid  to  the  great  proprietors  as  a  com- 
pensation for  their  feudal  rights  gave  a  fresh  spring  to  the  circu- 
lation of  the  country.  At  the  time  of  the  Union  Scotland  was 
without  agriculture,  manufactures,  shipping,  or  commerce.  Since 
then  she  has  risen  to  excellence  in  them  all. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


HISTORIES  OF  IRELAND 

Of  the  smaller  works  the  best  are:  Lawless's  "Story  of  the  Irish  Nation," 
Walpole's  "  Short  History  of  Ireland,"  McGee's  "  Popular  History  of  Ireland," 
Cusack's  "  Student's  Manual  of  Irish  History,"  Barry  O'Brien's  "  Ireland,"  Mc- 
Carthy's "  Ireland  and  Her  Story,"  and  Richey's  "  Lectures  on  the  History  of 
Ireland.  " 

Of  the  longer  or  older  works  there  are  a  number  of  varying  degrees  of 
excellence.  Leland's  "History  of  Ireland"  (3  vols.),  is  the  best  compendious 
history.  It  is  written  from  the  Protestant  standpoint.  Plowden's  "  Historical 
Review  of  the  State  of  Ireland  from  Henry  II  to  the  Union,"  is  fair,  as  is  also 
Gordon's  "  History  of  Ireland,"  while  Moore  is  strikingly  inaccurate,  and  Keat- 
inge  has  serious  defects,  though  entertaining  and  filled  with  the  Celtic  spirit. 
Goldwin  Smith's  "  Irish  History  and  Irish  Character  "  is  good,  but  T.  A.  Emmet's 
"Ireland  under  English  Rule"  is  a  prejudiced  book.  Miss  A.  E.  Murray's 
"  Commercial  Relations  between  England  and  Ireland "  is  a  good,  up-to-date 
book.  About  the  best  modern  book  is  W.  O'Connor  Morris's  "  Ireland,  1498- 
1868"  (with  two  introductory  chapters),  in  the  Cambridge  Historical  Series;  it 
gives  scholarly  treatment,  and  is  strictly  impartial. 

Some  of  the  historians  of  England  deal  largely  with  Irish  aflfairs.  Of  these, 
six  may  be  mentioned:  Hallam,  "Constitutional  History  of  England"  (impar- 
tial, but  old)  ;  Fronde,  "  England "  (brilliant,  but  one-sided)  ;  S.  R.  Gardiner, 
"  Volumes  on  English  History  from  James  I  to  the  Restoration  "  (accurate  and 
fair);  Macaulay,  "England"  (mostly  William  III,  brilliant,  but  at  times  unfair 
to  Ireland);  Lecky,  "England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century"  (chapters  on  Ireland 
are  an  excellent  survey)  ;  McCarthy,  "  History  of  Our  Own  Times "  (popular 
and  readable,  with  Irish  nationalist  sympathies). 

P'or  Ireland  before  the  Norman  invasion  there  are  a  number  of  valuable 
books,  of  which  the  following  may  serve  as  good  examples:  O'Curry,  "Man- 
ners and  Customs  of  Ancient  Ireland";  Joyce,  "Social  History  of  Ancient 
Ireland";  O'Donovan.  editor,  "Annals  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland";  Todd, 
editor,  "War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill " ;  Bishop  Adamnan,  "Life  of  St. 
Columba";  Miss  Cusack,  "Life  of  St.  Patrick";  G.  F.  Stokes,  "Ireland  and 
the  Celtic  Church." 

From  the  Invasion  to  the  Tudors  we  have  several  contemporary  works, — 
those  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  the  "  Discoverie "  of  Sir  John  Davies,  Ware's 
"  Annals " ;  and  luider  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts, — Spenser's  "  View,"  Petty's 
"Political  Anatomy  of  Ireland,"  Holinshead's  "Chronicles,"  "  Carew  Papers," 
and  "  Irish  Statutes."  Among  secondary  works  of  special  value  are :  Bagwell's 
"  Ireland  under  the  Tudors,"  Carte's  "  History  of  the  Dukes  of  Ormond,"  War- 
ner's "  Rebellion  and  Civil  War,"  and  on  particular  phases.  Ball's  "  Legislative 
Systems  from  Henry  II  to  the  Union";  Reid's  "  Irish-Presbyterian  Church,"  and 

381 


382  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Prendergast's  "  Cromwellian  Settlement  of  Ireland"  (which  is  good,  though 
treated  in  the  Irish  spirit).  Another  land  history  which  may  be  mentioned  here 
is  Richey's  "  Irish  Land  Law." 

For  the  period  to  the  Union  with  England,  for  contemporary  sources  com- 
pare Swift's  "  Irish  Tracts,"  Berkeley's  "  Tracts,"  Molyneux's  "  Case  of  Ireland," 
Hutchinson's  "  Commercial  Restraints,"  Arthur  Young's  "  Tour  in  Ireland, 
1776-1778,"  and  the  lives  and  speeches  of  prominent  leaders,  such  as  Flood,  Grat- 
tan,  Burke,  Curran,  Wolfe  Tone,  Pitt,  and  Cornwallis.  Representative  general 
works  are :  Froude,  "  England  in  Ireland,"  Lecky,  "  Leaders  of  Public  Opinion 
in  Ireland,"  and  Gordon,  "  History  of  the  Rebellion  of  1798." 

Tliere  has  been  a  good  deal  written  in  Ireland  and  about  Ireland  on  the 
period  since  the  Union.  A  few  references  of  general  types  may  be  given: 
Wakefield,  "An  Account  of  Ireland"  (1812)  ;  The  Nation,  newspaper,  1842-1848; 
"  The  Spirit  of  the  Nation,"  ballads ;  Barry  O'Brien,  "  Fifty  Years  of  Conces- 
sions to  Ireland  "  (anti-English)  ;  Duffy,  "  Young  Ireland  " ;  and  also,  "  Four 
Years  of  Irish  History."  To  these  should  be  added  special  sources,  such  as  the 
Parliamentary  reports,  as  of  the  Devon  Commission  of  1845 ;  the  lives  of  promi- 
nent men, — Peel,  and  especially  O'Connell;  statutes  for  Ireland  in  the  United 
Parliament ;  and  debates  over  Irish  matters,  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  Housard's 
"  Parliamentary  Debates." 


HISTORIES  OF  SCOTLAND 

The  best  general  work  on  Scotland  so  far  published  is  that  in  the  Cambridge 
Historical  Series,  by  P.  Hume  Brown,  two  volumes  of  which  have  appeared. 
Burton's  "  History  of  Scotland,  from  the  Invasion  of  Agricola  to  the  Union," 
published  in  eight  volumes,  is  good,  though  old.  J.  Mackenzie's  "  Scotland  "  is 
rather  bigoted.  Andrew  Lang's  "History  of  Scotland"  is  a  literary  effort  based 
on  previous  works.  Two  other  works  of  general  scope  are:  Tyler's  "Scotland" 
and  Mackintosh's  "  History  of  Civilization  in  Scotland." 

Much  has  been  done  toward  the  collections  of  materials  relating  to  Scotland, 
as  in  the  Record  series,  which  includes  "  Acts  of  Parliaments  of  Scotland." 
"  Register  of  Privy  Council,"  "  Calendar  of  State  Papers  relating  to  Scotland  " 
(ed.  Thorpe),  "Calendar  of  Documents"  (ed.  Bain),  "Chronicle  of  Picts  and 
Scots"  (ed.  Skene),  etc.  Such  collections  as  those  made  by  the  Scottish  Burgh 
Record  Society,  with  the  publications  of  the  Bannatyne,  Maitland,  Grampian, 
Abbotsford,  and  Spalding  Club,  the  Camden  Society,  and  the  Scottish  Text  Society 
are  of  notable  value.  There  is  also  material  in  the  Hatfield  Papers,  Hamilton 
Papers,  and  Lauderdale  Papers. 

Of  ecclesiastical  histories  there  are  those  of  Cunningham,  Bellesheim,  and 
Stephen,  with  John  Knox,  "  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland." 

Among  the  English  historians,  Froude,  Rankin,  and  S.  R.  Gardiner  deal 
most  with  Scottish  aitairs.  For  the  early  history,  E.  W.  Robertson's  "  Scotland 
under  Her  Early  Kings  "  and  Skene's  "  Celtic  Scotland  "  come  first,  followed  by 
Innes's  "  Scotland  in  the  Middle  Ages"  and  P.  Hume  Brown's  "  Early  Travellers 
in  Scotland,"  and  "  Scotland  before  1700  from  Contemporary  Documents."  Geo. 
Buchanan's  "  Rcrum  Scoticarum  Historia,"  and  the  collection  of  "Historians  of 
Scotland"  are  original  sources.  The  latter  includes  the  "Chronica  gcntis  Scot- 
ornm"  of  John  of  Fordun;  Bishop  Adamnan's  "Life  of  St.  Columba,"  and 
Innes's  "  Essay  on  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  Scotland." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  S8S 

Barbour's  "  Bruce,"  Maxwell's  "  Bruce,"  Blind  Harry's  "  Wallace,"  Brunton's 
"Wallace,"  Campbell's  "Mediaeval  Scotland  (1093-1513),"  are  all  that  need  be 
mentioned  on  the  period  they  cover. 

E.  W.  Robertson's  "History  of  Scotland  (1542-1603),"  covers  the  Reforma- 
tion period.  On  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  much  has  been  written.  Possibly  the 
best  are  Hosack,  "  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  Her  Accusers " ;  Henderson, 
"  Casket  Letters,"  and  Gardiner,  "  Casket  Letters."  Strickland,  Chalmers,  Agnes 
M.  Stewart,  Rait,  and  Andrew  Lang  all  may  be  consulted  on  the  subject. 

Of  special  books  on  later  periods  of  Scottish  history,  the  only  ones  that 
need  be  mentioned  are  Mackinnon,  "Union,"  and  Stanhope,  "The  Forty-Five, 
or  Rebellion  in  Scotland  of  1745." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  University  of:  founded,  301 

Act  of  Explanation   (1665),  129 

Act  of  Renunciation   (1783),  189 

Act  of  Repeal  (1782),  188 

Act  of  Settlement  (1661),  129 

Act  Rescissory   (1660),  344 

Adrian     IV,     Pope :     gives     Ireland    to 

Henry  II  of  England,  48 
Agricola,    Julius :      leads     invasion     of 

Romans  into  Scotland,  249 
Aguila.  Don  Juan  del :  brings  aid  to  the 

Irish,  loi 
Aidan,  Saint :  labors  among  the  Britons, 

36,  253 
Airds  Moss:  battle  of  (1669)  348 
Albany,  John    Stuart,  Duke  of :   regent 

of  Scotland,  301 
Albany,    Robert,   Duke    of:    rules    Scot- 
land, 287;  death  of,  291 
Aldfrid,  King  of  Northumbria :  educated 

in  Ireland,  34 
Alexander   I,   King   of   Scotland :    reign 

of,   261 
Alexander  II,  King  of  Scotland :   reign 

of,  267 
Alexander  III,  King  of  Scotland :  reign 

of,  268 
Alexander,   Lord   of  the    Isles :    at  war 

with  the  Scots,  291 
Alexander,    William,    Earl    of    Stirling: 

plans    settlement    of    Nova    Scotia, 

334 
Allen,  Archbishop  of  Dublin :  death  of, 

79 

Alne:  battle  of  the   (1093),  258 

Amlafif:  at  battle  of  Clontarf,  42 

Angles:  settle  in  Britain,  250 

Angus,  Archibald  Douglas,  Earl  of 
(1449-1514)  :  plots  against  the  fav- 
orites of  James  III  of  Scotland,  297 

Angus,  Archibald  Douglas,  Earl  of 
(1489-1557)  :  guardian  of  James  V 
of  Scotland,  303 


"Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,"  7 

Anne  of  Denmark :  marries  James  VI  of 

Scotland,  326 
Annesley  Case,  The  (1719),  171 
Antrim:  battle  of  (1798),  213 
Apologetical    Declaration    (1683),   349 
Argyle,    Archibald    Campbell,    Earl    of 

(d.    1513)  :    commissioned    to    keep 

order  in  the  west,  299 
Argyle,    Archibald    Campbell,    Duke    of 

(d.  1661)  :  death  of,  345 
Argyle,    Archibald    Campbell,    Earl    of 

(d.    1685)  :   condemned   for  treason, 

349;  death  of,  350 
Argyle,    John    Campbell,    Duke    of:    his 

campaign     against     the     Pretender, 

362 
Arkinholm:  battle  of  (1454),  295 
Arklow:  battle  of  (1798),  212 
Armstrong,  John :   death  of,  303 
Anan,  Earls  of:  see  Boyd  and  Hamilton 
Arts :  among  the  ancient  Irish,  6 
Ashbourne  Acts    (1885,   1888),  242  note 
Athenry:  battle  of   (1316),  60 
Athlone:  sieges  of  (1690),  144;   (1691), 

ISO 
Aughrim:  battles  of  (1602),  104;  (1691), 

152 
Augus,    Irish   chief:    leads   colonists   to 

Scotland,  38 


B 


Back  Lane  Parliament  (1792),  200 

Bagenal  (Bagnal),  Sir  Henry:  his  en- 
mity toward  Hugh  O'Neill,  95 ;  his 
campaign  against  The  O'Neill,  96 

Baker,  Major:  leader  of  the  defense  of 
Derry,  135 

Balfour  Act   (1891),  242  note 

Bailleul,  Bernard  de :  renounces  allegi- 
ance to  David  I  of  Scotland,  264 

Balliol,  Edward :  claims  Scottish  throne, 
285 


387 


888 


INDEX 


BalHol,  John:  see  John  BalHol 
Balloch,  Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles:  de- 
feats Scots,  292 
Ballynahinch:  battle  of  (1798),  213 
Balmerinoch,  Lord:  imprisoned,  335 
Bannockburn:  battle  of  (1314).  59,  280 
Barber,  General :    in   Rebellion  of   1798, 

213 
Barbour,    John,    Archdeacon    of    Aber- 
deen :  quoted  on  Robert  Bruce,  278 
Barrington,   Sir  Jonah:  opposes  Union, 

215 

Barton,  Andrew:  sketch  of,  299 

Beaton,  James,  Archl»shop  of  St.  An- 
drews: leads  French  party  in  Scot- 
land, 302 

Beaton,  David :  murder  of,  307 

Benburb:  battle  of  (1646),  121 

Beresford,  John:  retired,  203 

Berwick:  captured  by  the  English  (1294), 
274;  sieges  of  (1314),  282;  (i333), 
285 

Berwick,  Pacification  of  (1639),  338 

Bingham.  Sir  Richard:  cruelty  of,  95 

Blackadder,  Robert,  Bishop  of  St.  An- 
drews :  consecrated,  300 

Boece,  Hector:  sketch  of,  309 

Boileau  (Boisseleau),  Captain:  at  siege 
of  Limerick,  146 

Bompart,  Admiral :  leads  French  ex- 
pedition to  Ireland,  214 

Bond,  Oliver :  member  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  201 ;  arrest  of,  209 

"  Book  of  Armagh,"  8 

"  Book  of  Ballymote,"  7 

"  Book  of  Kells,"  8 

"  Book  of  Lecan  [Leckan],"  7 

"  Book  of  Leinster,"  7 

"  Book  of  the  Dun  Cow,"  6 

Borlase,  Sir  John :  attempts  to  crush  the 
Rebellion  of  1641,  115 

Borough,  Thomas,  Lord :  appointed  lord 
deputy  of  Ireland,  95 

Bothwell,  Adam :  marries  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  and  the  Earl  of  Bothwell, 

317 
Bothwell,  James  Hepburn,  Earl  of:  his 

relations  with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 

316 
Bothwell,   Bridge  of:   battle  of    (1669), 

348 
Bower,  Walter :  sketch  of,  309 
Boyd,  Earl  of  Arran :  disgraced,  296 


Boyne:  battle  of  the  (1690),  141 
Breadalbane,   John    Campbell,    Earl    of: 

his   mission  to  the   Scottish   chiefs, 
,  353 
Brian   Boru,    King  of    Munster:    career 

of,  40 
Bright,  John :  pleads  for  the  Manchester 

Martyrs,   235 ;   opposes  Home   Rule 

bill,  240 
Brigit,  Saint :  sketch  of,  32 
Broder :  at  battle  of  Clontarf,  42 
Brown,  George,  Archbishop  of  Dublin: 

attempts  to  spread  the  Reformation, 

8S 

Bruce,  Edward :  invades  Ireland,  59, 
282 

Bruce,  Robert  (1210-1295)  :  claims  the 
Scottish  throne,  271 

Bruce,  Robert  (1274-1329)  :  see  Robert 
Bruce,  King  of  Scotland 

Brunanburh :  battle  of  (937  a.d.),  255 

Brus,  Robert  de :  renounces  allegiance 
to  David  I  of  Scotland,  264 

Buchan :  his  campaign  in  Scotland 
(1690),  353 

Buchan,  Earl  of:  defeated  at  Inverary 
(1314),  278 

Buchan,  Alexander,  Earl  of:  rules  Scot- 
land, 287 

Buchanan,  George:  sketch  of,  331 

Buckingham,  Marquis  of :  lord  lieutenant 
of  Ireland,  197 

Buildings :  in  ancient  Ireland,  9 

Burgh,  Walter  Hussey:  proposes  the 
free  trade  bill,  183 

Burgo,  Richard  de:  his  campaign  against 
Edward  Bruce,  59 

Burgo,  William  de:  appointed  viceroy 
of  Ireland,  53 

Burgoyne,  John :  at  battle  of  Saratoga, 
181 

Burial   Customs:   in  ancient  Ireland,   10 

Burke:   murder  of,  239 

Burke,  Edmund :  opposes  Irish  policy  of 
the  English  Government,  i8t 

Burke,  Mac  William,  Earl  of  Clanrick- 
ard :  made  Earl,  83 

Butler,  Sir  Edmund:  lord  justice  of  Ire- 
land,  59 

Butler,  Simon :  member  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  201 

Butt,  Isaac :  becomes  leader  of  constitu- 
tional party,  236 


INDEX 


389 


Cain,  Patrick  (438  a.d.),  29 
Callan:  battle  of  (1261),  58 
Cambrensis,        Giraldus         (Geraldus)  : 

quoted    on    the    Irish    harpers,    9; 

secretary  to  John  of  England,  54 
Camden,  Lord :   lord   lieutenant  of   Ire- 
land, 204 
Cameron,  Richard :  leader  of  the  Cam- 

eronians,  348 
Camperdown:  battle  of  (1797),  208 
Carew,   Sir  George :   made  president  of 

Munster,  100 
Cargill,  Donald:   leader  of  the   Camer- 

onians,  348 
Carham:  battle  of  (1018),  256 
Carrickshock :  battle  of  (1832),  224 
Casket  Letters,  318 
Catholic  Association :  founded,  221 
Catholic  Emancipation:  question  of,  199, 

219;  aftermath  of,  224 
Caulfield,   James.    Earl    of   Charlemont : 

commands  Northern  Volunteers,  182 
Cavendish,  Lord  Frederick :  murder  of, 

239 

Chapter  of  Mitton:  battle  of  (13 19), 
282 

Charles  I,  King  of  Great  Britain :  con- 
dition of  Ireland  under,  in;  condi- 
tion of  Scotland  under,  335 

Charles  II,  King  of  Great  Britain:  pro- 
claimed in  Scotland,  342 ;  proclaimed 
king  in  Ireland,  123;  condition  of 
Ireland  under,  129 

Chevy  Chase :  ballad  of,  287 

Chichester,  Sir  Arthur :  manages  the 
Plantation  in  Ireland,  109 

Clare,  Richard  de  (Richard  Strongbow), 
Earl  of  Pembroke :  his  career  in  Ire- 
land, 49,  52 

Clarence,  Lionel,  Duke :  made  lord  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  64 

Clarendon,  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of:  made 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  131 

Classes,  Act  of  (1648),  341 

Clear  the  Causeway:  battle  of  (1522), 
302 

Clement  ITT,  Pope:  confirms  claim  of 
Scottish  clergy  to  independence,  267 

Clifford,  Sir  Conyers :  made  president  of 
Connaught,  95 

Clonmel:  siege  of  (1650),  125 


Clontarf:  battle  of  (1014),  42 

Cnut,   King  of  Denmark,   Norway  and 

England :     receives     submission     of 

Malcolm  II  of  Scotland,  256 
Cochrane,  Robert:  plots  against,  297 
Cogan,  Miles  de :  appointed  assistant  to 

De  Burgo,  S3 
Colman :     governs     the     monastery     of 

Lindisfarne,  36 
Columba     (Columkille),    Saint:     sketch 

of,  32,  251 
CoTiall,  Gublan :  conversion  of,  29 
Conan,    Saint :    sent    as    missionary    to 

Britain,  253 
Congregation,  Lords  of  the :  organized, 

312 
Conn   the  Hundred-Fighter:   legend  of, 

25 

Constantine  II,  King  of  Scotland:  reign 
of,  255 

Convention  Act  (1793),  201 

Cooke,  Edward :  retired,  203 

Coote,  Sir  Charles  (d.  1661)  :  attempts 
to  crush  the  Rebellion  of  1641, 
116 

Coote,  Sir  Charles,  son  of  preceding: 
his  campaign  in  Ireland,  125 

Cope,  Sir  John :  his  campaign  against 
the  Young  Pretender,  366 

Cork:  siege  of  (1690),  149 

Cornwallis,  Charles,  Lord:  appointed 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  213 

Courcy,  Sir  John  de :  receives  the 
province  of  Ulster,  51 ;  appointed 
assistant  to  De  Burgo,  53;  made 
viceroy  of  Ireland,  54 

Covenant,  First  (1557),  312 

Craddock,  General :  sent  to  Ulster,  206 

Crawford  of  Jordanhill :  captures  Dun- 
barton  Castle,  322 

Crichton,  William:  claims  guardianship 
of  James  II   of  Scotland,  293 

Croft,  Sir  James :  attempts  to  crush  re- 
bellion of  Shane  O'Neill,  87 

Cromer,  Archbishop  of  Armagh :  pleads 
with    Lord    Thomas    Fitzgerald,    79 

Cromwell,  Oliver:  appointed  lord  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  124;  condition  of 
Scotland  under,  343 

Culloden  Moor:  battle  of  (1746),  368 

Cumberland,  William  Augustus,  Duko 
of:  his  campaign  against  the  Young 
Pretender,  367 


390 


INDEX 


Curran,  John  Philpot:  favors  the  Ro- 
tunda Bill,  192;  defends  Rowan, 
202;  defends  Wolfe  Tone,  214 

Curry,  Dr. :  assumes  leadership  of  Cath- 
olic movement,  173 

Cyric  (Grig),  King  of  Scotland:  usurps 
throne,  255 


Dacre,  Thomas  Fienes,  Lord:  his  cam- 
paign against  the  Scots,  302 

Dagobert  II,  King  of  France :  educated 
in  Ireland,  34 

Dalziel,  Thomas:  attempts  to  crush  the 
Scottish   Presbyterians,  346 

Danes :  invade  Ireland,  39 

Darien  Colony  Scheme,  354 

David  I,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of,  262 

David  (II)  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland: 
reign  of,  284 

Davis,  Thomas :  founds  The  Nation, 
226,  228 

Dedannans :  settle  in  Ireland,  24 

Dee,  Bridge  of:  battle  of  (1639),  338 

Defenders,  196 

Derry  (Londonderry)  :  siege  of  (1689), 

134 

Derwentwater,  James  Radclifife,  Earl  of: 
supports    claims    of    the    Old    Pre- 
tender, 2>^2 
Desmond,  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  Earl  of: 
see    Fitzgerald,    Thomas,    Earl    of 
Desmond 
Destiny,  Stone  of:  see  Stone  of  Destiny 
Devon  Commission   (1843),  238  note 
Diamond,  Battle  of  the  (1795),  205 
Dicho,  Irish  chief:  conversion  of,  28 
Dillon,  John :  reads  Mitchell's  speech  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  232;  leads 
Anti-Parnellite  majority,  242  note 
Dillon,  John  Blake :  founds  The  Nation, 

226,  228 
Disestablishing  Act   (1868),  238  note 
Dixon:  in  the  Rebellion  of  1798,  211 
Docwra,     Sir    Henry:    builds    forts    in 

Lough  Foyle,  100 
Donald   (VII)   Bane,  King  of  Scotland: 

reign  of,  259 
Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles :  at  war  with 

Scotland,  288 
Donald    Dhu :    leads    disaffected    chiefs, 
299 


Donall,  the  Great  Steward  of  Mar:  ac- 
cepts Danish  challenge,  43 

Donogh,  King  of  Munster:  reign  of,  46 

Douglas,  Sir  Archibald  (1296-1333) : 
his  campaign  against  the  English, 
285 

Douglas,  Archibald,  Earl  of  (d.  1439)  : 
sketch  of,  294 

Douglas,  Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus:  see 
Angus,  Archibald  Douglas,  Earl  of 

Douglas,  Gawin :  sketch  of,  309 

Douglas,  Sir  James  of  (ca.  1286-1330)  : 
aids  Robert  Bruce,  280;  death  of, 
284 

Douglas,  James,  Earl  of  (1426-1488): 
rebellion  of,  295 

Douglas,  Sir  William  of  (d.  1298)  :  joins 
Wallace's  rebellion,  275 

Douglas,  William,  Earl  of  (d.  1440) : 
death  of,  294 

Douglas,  William,  Earl  of  (i425?-i452) : 
conspires  with  Livingstone,  294; 
death  of,  295 

Douglas,  General:  at  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne,  142;  at  the  siege  of  Athlone, 
144 

Downpatrick:   battle  of   (1260),  58 

Drennan,  William :  his  labors  in  behalf 
of   Catholic  emancipation,  201 

Drogheda,  Marquis  of:  his  campaign 
against  the  Whiteboys,  175 

Drum-Kelta,  Meeting  of   (574  a.d.),  38 

Dublin:  battle  of  (1649),  123 

Dubthach  (Duffa),  Irish  poet:  conver- 
sion of,  29 

Duffy,  Charles  Gavan:  founds  The  Na- 
tion, 226,  228 

Dunbar:  battle  of  (1650),  343 

Dunbar,  William :  sketch  of,  309 

Dunboy:  siege  of  (1602),  102 

Duncan  I,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 
256 

Duncan  II,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 

259 
Duncan,  Adam,  Viscount  Camperdown : 

at  battle  of  Camperdown,  208 
Dundas,  Henry:  proposes  the  repeal  of 

the  penal  laws  of  Scotland,  370 
Dundee,  John  Grahame  of  Claverhouse, 

Viscount :  commands  Jacobite  forces 

in  Scotland,  352 
Dungannon   Resolutions    (1782),    187 
Dunkeld:  battle  of  (1689),  353 


INDEX 


391 


Eadgar  the  ^theling,  King  of  England : 
as  a  refugee  at  the  Scottish  court, 
257;     places    Eadgar    on     Scottish 
throne,  259 
Eadgar,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of,  259 
Eadmer,    Archbishop    of    St.    Andrews : 
quarrels  with  Alexander  I  of  Scot- 
land, 262 
Edgecomb,  Sir  Richard :  his  mission  to 

Ireland,  72 
Edinburgh:  siege  of   (1572),  322 
Edinburgh,  Treaty  of  (1560),  313 
Education :  in  ancient  Ireland,  34 
Edward  I,  King  of  England :  condition 
of  Ireland  under,  58;   his  relations 
with  Scotland,  268 
Edward  II,  King  of  England:  his  rela- 
tions with  Scotland,  278 
Edward  III,  King  of  England:  attempts 
to    break    the    power    of    the    Irish 
lords,  63 ;   condition  of  Ireland  un- 
der, 66;  his  relations  with  Scotland, 
283 
Edward  IV,  King  of  England :  his  rela- 
tions with  Scotland,  296 
Edward  VI,  King  of  England :  condition 

of  Ireland  under,  85 
Elizabeth,   Queen  of  England :   aids  the 
Congregation  in  Scotland,  313;  im- 
prisons Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  319 
Emancipation  Act,  Catholic   (1829),  222 
Emmet,  Robert:  insurrection  of,  218 
Emmet,  Thomas  Addis:  joins  the  United 

Irishmen,  207 
Encumbered    Estates    Act     (1847),    238 

note 
Enniscorthy:  battle  of  (1798),  210 
Eremon,  King  of  Ireland :  reign  of,  24 
Eric,    King  of   Norway:   forms   alliance 

with   John   Balliol,   273 
Essex,  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of:  made 

lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  98 
Essex,    Walter   Devereux,   Earl   of:    at- 
tempts to  plant  colonies  in  Ireland, 
92 
Explanation,  Act  of  (1665),  129 


Ealaise,  Convention  of  (1174),  206 
Falkirk:  battle  of  (1298),  276 


Falkland,  Lucius   Cary,  Viscount:   lord 

deputy  of  Ireland,  iii 
Faughart:  battle  of  (1318),  61 
Fenian  Brotherhood:  organized,  234 
Fergus,   Irish   chief:   leads   colonists  to 

Scotland,  38 
Finaghta,    King    of    Ireland :    renounces 

the  Born  tax,  39 
Finan :  governs  the  monastery  of  Lindis- 

farne,  36 
Firbolgs :  settle  in  Ireland,  24 
Fit'jgerald,     Prime     Sergeant :     opposes 

Union,  215 
Fitzgerald,     Lord     Edward:     joins    the 

United    Irishmen,    206;    arrest    and 

death   of,  209 
Fitzgerald,    Garrett,    Earl    of    Kildare, 

called   the   Great    Earl :    made    lord 

lieutenant  of  Ireland,  72,  76 
Fitzgerald,    Garrett    Oge,    Earl    of    Kil- 
dare :  becomes  lord  deputy  of  Ire- 
land, 77 
Fitzgerald,    Gerald,    Earl    of    Kildare: 

career  of,  80 
Fitzgerald,    James    Fitzmaurice:    incites 

Irish    chiefs    to    insurrection,    89 
Fitzgerald,  John:  joins  rebellion,  89 
Fizgerald,  Maurice  (d.  1176)  :  agrees  to 

aid  Dermot  MacMurrogh,  49 
Fitzgerald,    Maurice :    his    campaign    in 

Ireland  (1257),  58 
Fitzgerald,  Maurice,  Earl  of  Desmond : 

his  campaigns  against  the  Irish,  63 
Fitzgerald,     Raymond,     surnamed     "  le 

Gros " :    his    career    in    Ireland,    50, 

53 

Fitzgerald,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Desmond, 
called  the  Great  Earl:  made  lord 
deputy  of  Ireland,  70;  fall  of,  71 

Fitzgerald,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Kildare 
(1513-1537)  :  made  lord  deputy  of 
Ireland,  78;  rebellion  of,  79 

Fitzgerald,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Desmond 
(d.  1583)  :  rebellion  of,  89 

Fitzgerald,  Vesey:  defeated  for  Parlia- 
ment by  O'Connell,  221 

Fitzgibbon,  John,  Earl  of  Clare :  sup- 
ports Irish  cause,  186;  proposes  a 
crushing  crimes  bill,  196;  leads  oppo- 
sition to  emancipation  bill,  203; 
made  Earl  of  Clare,  204 

Fitzstephcn,  Robert:  his  career  in  Ire- 
land, 49,  53 


INDEX 


Fitzwilliam,  Earl:  made  lord  lieutenant 

of  Ireland,  202 
Fitzwilliam,  Sir  William:  lord  deputy  of 

Ireland,  94 
Fleetwood,    Charles :    his   campaigns    in 

Ireland,   126 
Flodden:  battle  of  (lSi3)»  300 
Flood,    Henry:    leader    of    the    Patriot 

Party,   177;  loses  the  confidence  of 

the  people,  183 
Florence,     Count    of    Holland :     claims 

Scottish  throne,  271 
Forbes,  Duncan :  sketch  of,  370 
Forbes,   John :    leader  of  the   Episcopal 

Church,  358 
Forbes,  Patrick :  leader  of  the  Episcopal 

Church,  358 
Fordun,  John  of:  sketch  of,  290 
Forster :  supports  claims  of  the  Old  Pre- 
tender, 362 
Forster,    William    Edward :     draws    up 

Irish  Land  Act,  238  7iote 
Foster,  John :   opposes  Union,  215 
Francis    II,    King    of    France :    marries 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  307 
Eraser,    Simon,   Lord   Lovat:   death   of, 

369 


Gardiner,  Luke,  Lord  Mountjoy:  intro- 
duces bill  to  relieve  Irish  Catholics 
from  their  disabilities,  181 ;  supports 
free  trade  movement,  183;  death  of, 
212 

Gates,  Horatio:  at  battle  of  Saratoga, 
181 

Geraldine  League,  First:  formed,  81 

Geraldine   League,    Second :    formed,   90 

Geraldine  Rebellion,  The,  89 

Germain  of  Auxerre,  Saint :  teaches  St. 
Patrick,  27 

Gillespie,  George:  sketch  of,  358 

Ginkle  (Ginkel  or  Ginckell),  Godert  de. 
Earl  of  Athlone :  at  siege  of  Lim- 
erick (1690),  146;  at  siege  of  Ath- 
lone, 150;  at  siege  of  Limerick 
(1691),  153;  created  Earl  of  Ath- 
lone, 155 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart :  his  efforts 
for  Home  Rule,  238 

Glasgow,  University  of:  founded,  296 

Glen  Fruin:  battle  of  (1604),  333 


Glencairn,  William  Cunningham,  Lord: 
rising  of,  344 

Glencoe  Massacre  (1692),  353 

Glenshiel :  battle  of  (1719),  365 

Godolphin,  Sidney,  Earl  of:  promotes 
union  between  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land, 356 

Gordon,  Lady  Katharine:  marries  Per- 
kin  Warbeck,  298 

Gorey:  battle  of  (1798),  211 

Gormlaith,  wife  of  Brian  Boru:  incites 
the  Danes,  42 

Gowrie,  Earl  of:  forcibly  detains  James 
VI  of  Scotland,  325 

Gowrie  Conspiracy,  The,  328 

Grace,  Act  of  (1717),  364 

Grace,  Richard:  defends  Athlone,  144 

Graham,  John :  attacks  Covenanters,  348 

Grahame,  Sir  Robert :  conspires  against 
James  I  of  Scotland,  292 

Grange:  at  battle  of  Langside,  319; 
death  of,  324 

Grattan,  Henry :  leader  of  the  Patriot 
Party,  177;  withdraws  from  Parlia- 
ment, 208;  opposes  Union,  217;  la- 
bors for  Catholic  emancipation,  220 

Grattan's   Parliament    (1783),   190 

Grey,  Lord  Leonard :  crushes  Geraldine 
rebellion,  80 

Grey  of  Wilton,  Lord  Arthur:  his  cam- 
paign in  Ireland,  90 

Grig:  see  Cyric 

Grouchy,  Marquis  Emmanuel  de:  in 
expedition  to  Ireland,  207 

Guthrie,  James:  death  of,  345 


H 


Hadrian's  Wall:  built,  249 

Hakon,  King  of  Norway:  invades  Scot- 
land, 268 

Halidon  Hill:  battle  of  (l333),  285 

Hamilton,  Marquis  of:  appointed  com- 
missioner to  Scotland,  337 

Hamilton,  Gavin,  Bishop  of  Galloway: 
consecrated,    332 

Hamilton,  James,  Earl  of  Arran:  com- 
mands fleet  for  invasion  of  France, 
300;  regent  for  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  305 

Hamilton,  Sir  James:  joins  cause  of 
James  II  of  Scotland,  296 


INDEX 


Hamilton,  Richard:  at  siege  of  Derry, 

135 
Hamilton     of     Bothwellhaugh,     James: 

murders  Earl  of  Murray,  321 
Harlaw:  battle  of   (1411),  289 
Harold    Harfagra,    King    of    Norway: 

forms  kingdom,  254 
Harry  the   Minstrel,   Blind:    sketch  of, 

309 

Harvey,  Bagenal :  in  the  Rebellion  of 
1798,  211;  death  of,  213 

Hastings,  John :  claims  Scottish  throne, 
271 

Healy,  Michael:  leads  Anti-Parnelhte 
majority,  242 

Hearts  of  Oak,  176 

Hearts  of  Steel,  176 

Henderson,  Alexander:  leader  of  the 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  358 

Henry  I,  King  of  England:  marries 
Matilda,  261 

Henry  H,  King  of  England:  agrees  to 
aid  Dermont  MacMurrogh,  49;  in- 
vades Ireland,  51;  knighted,  264 

Henry  HI,  King  of  England:  his  rela- 
tions with  Scotland,  267 

Henry  IV,  King  of  England :  condition 
of  Ireland  under,  67;  his  relations 
with  Scotland,  288 

Henry  VII,  King  of  England :  condition 
of  Ireland  under,  72;  his  relations 
with  Scotland,  298 

Henry  VIII,  King  of  England:  his  con- 
quest of  Ireland,  82;  his  relations 
with  Scotland,  304 

Hertford,  Edward  Seymour,  Earl  of: 
see  Seymour,  Edward,  Duke  of 
Somerset 

Hochc,  Lazare :  commands  expedition 
for  invading  Ireland,  207 

Home  Rule,  234 

Howard,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Surrey  and 
Duke  of  Norfolk :  made  lord  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  T] 

Humbert,  Joseph  Amable :  leads  French 
expedition  to  Ireland,  214 

Htmtly.  Gordon,  Earl  of  (d.  1562)  : 

fall  of,  314 

Htuitl}',  Gordon,  Earl  of :  leader  of 

the  Catholic  party  in  Scotland 
(1592),  327 

Hutchinson,  Hely :  supports  free  trade 
movement,   183 


I.  J 

Illann,  King  of  Leinster:  conversion  of, 

30 
Inchiquin,    Lord :    at    battle    of    Knock- 

nanuss,  122 
Indemnity,  Acts  of:  (1662),  345;  (1747), 

369 
Induff,  King  of  Scotland:  wins  Edin- 
burgh for  Scotland,  256 
Insurrection  Act  (1796),  207 
Inverary:  battle  of  (1314),  278 
Ireland,  History  of :  the  country  in  olden 
times,  3;  literature,  arts,  and  build- 
ings, 6;  daily  life  and  religion,  12; 
the  legends,  23;  St.  Patrick,  27; 
progress  of  religion  and  learning, 
31;  the  Irish  kings,  38;  the  Anglo- 
Normans,  46;  Anglo-Irish  lords,  52; 
Bruce's  invasion  and  internal  strife, 
59;  decline  of  English  rule,  67;  ac- 
cession of  Henry  VII — Poynings' 
Law,  72;  the  Geraldines,  76;  re- 
newal of  strife,  82;  two  rebellions, 
87;  the  rebellion  of  Hugh  O'Neill, 
94;  the  flight  of  the  earls  and 
the  death  of  O'Neill,  100;  con- 
fiscation of  land,  108;  the  Rebellion 
of  1641,  114;  from  Kilkenny  to 
Benburb,  118;  the  commonwealth, 
124;  Ireland  after  the  restoration, 
129;  the  siege  of  Derry,  134;  the 
battle  of  the  Boyne,  141 ;  the  siege 
of  Limerick,  144;  Athlone  and 
Aughrim,  150;  second  siege  and 
Treaty  of  Limerick,  153 ;  the  Penal 
Laws,  157;  trade  repression,  165; 
parliamentary  struggle,  169;  discon- 
tent and  danger,  174;  the  Volun- 
teers, 180;  legislative  independence, 
185;  Grattan's  Parliament,  190;  re- 
vival of  secret  societies,  195 ;  Catho- 
lic emancipation  (1792-1795),  199; 
riot  and  Tone's  invasion,  205 ;  the 
Rebellion  of  1798,  209;  the  Union, 
215;  Catholic  emancipation  (1803- 
1829),  219;  aftermath  of  emancipa- 
tion, 224 ;  the  Young  Ireland  move- 
ment, 228;  Home  Rule,  234 
Ireton,  Henry :  his  campaigns  in  Ireland, 

125 
Islay,  Earl  of:  quells  disorders  in  Edin- 
burgh, 365 


394 


INDEX 


Jackson,  William:  his  mission  to  Ire- 
land, 202 

James  I,  King  of  England  (VI  of  Scot- 
land) :  accession  of,  to  Scottish 
throne,  318;  accession  of,  to  Eng- 
lish throne,  108,  329 

James  II,  King  of  England  (VII  of 
Scotland)  :  commissioner  for  Scot- 
land, 348;  accession  of,  131,  349; 
fall  of,  132,  351;  his  campaign  in 
Ireland,    134 

James  I,  King  of  Scotland:  taken  pris- 
oner by  the  English,  288;  reign  of, 
288 

James  II,  King  of  Scotland:   reign  of, 

293 

James  III,  King  of  Scotland:  reign  of, 
296 

James  IV,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 
298 

James  V,  King  of  Scotland:  reign  of, 
301 

James  VI  and  VII,  Kings  of  Scotland: 
see  James  I  and  II,  Kings  of  Eng- 
land 

Jedburgh:  siege  of  (1524),  302 

Joanna,  sister  of  Henry  III  of  England : 
marries  Alexander  II  of  Scotland, 
267 

Johannes  Scotus  Erigena :  his  relations 
with  Charles  the  Bold  of  France,  36 

John,  King  of  England :  sent  to  Ireland, 
54;  invades  Ireland,  56;  his  rela- 
tions with  Scotland,  266 

John  Balliol,  King  of  Scotland:  claims 
throne,  271 ;  accession  of,  272 

Jones,  Colonel,  governor  of  Dublin :  de- 
feats Preston,  122 

Jones,  Paul:  his  depredations  round  the 
Irish  coast,  182 


K 


Kavanagh,  Art  Mac  Murrogh,  King  of 
Leinster :  career  of,  67 

Kavanagh,  Donall:  joins  the  English  in- 
vaders, 49 

Kells:  battle  of  (1397),  68 

Kerr,  George:  leader  of  the  Catholic 
party  in   Scotland,  327 

Kenneth  (I)  MacAlpin,  King  of  Scot- 
land :  reign  of,  253 


Kenmure,  Lord :  supports  claims  of  the 

Old  Pretender,  362 
Kentigen,     Saint :     revives     Christianity 

among  the  Welsh,  252 
Keogh,  John :  leader  of  the  Democratic 

party,   199;  his  efforts  for  Catholic 

emancipation,  221 
Keogh,  Matthew:  death  of,  213 
Kildare,  War  of,  57 
Kildare,    Garrett    Fitzgerald,    Earl    of: 

see  Fitzgerald,  Garrett,  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare 
Kilkenny,  Confederation  of  (1642),  119 
Kilkenny,  Statute  of,  64 
Killiecrankie :  battle  of  (1689),  352 
Kinsale:  siege  of  (1601),  loi ;  battle  of 

(1602),   102 
Kirke,  Percy :  brings  supplies  to  Derry, 

137 
Knockdoe:  battle  of  (1496),  76 
Knocknanuss:   battle  of    (1647),    123 
Knox,  John :  sent  to  the  French  galleys, 

307;   leads   reform  movement,  312; 

death  of,  323 


La  Bastie,  Anthony  de :  made  warden  of 
the  Border,  301 

Lacy,  Hugh  de :  receives  the  province  of 
Meath,  51 

Lacy,  Hugh  de,  son  of  the  preceding: 
his  career  in  Ireland,  55 ;  his  feud 
with  William  Marshal,  57 

Laegaire  (Leary),  King  of  Ireland: 
reign  of,  26 

Lake,  Gerard,  Viscount  Lake :  commands 
army  in  Ulster,  207 

Lamb,  Andrew,  Bishop  of  Brechin : 
consecrated,  332 

Lamberton,  William,  Bishop  of  St.  An- 
drews :  swears  allegiance  to  Robert 
Bruce,  277 

Land  Act,  Irish  (1870),  238  note 

Langside:   battle  of    (1568),  319 

Laud,  William,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury :  draws  up  a  Liturgy,  336 

Lauderdale,  John  Maitland,  Earl  and 
Duke  of:  appointed  commissioner 
to  Scotland,  347 

Learmouth  of  Ercildoun,  Thomas : 
sketch  of,  268 

Legends  of  Ireland,  23 


INDEX 


395 


Leighton,     Alexander,     Archbishop     of 
Glasgow :    leader   of   the   Episcopal 
Church,  358 
Leinster,  Duke  of:  leader  of  the  Popu- 
lar Party,  173 
Lennox,  Matthew  Stuart,  Earl  of:  sup- 
ports policy  of  Henry  VIII  of  Eng- 
land, 305;  made  regent  of  Scotland, 
321 ;  death  of,  322 
Leslie,  Alexander,  Earl  of  Leven :  leader 
of  the  Covenanters,  338;  in  the  Civil 
War,  339 
Leslie,  David :  in  the  Civil  War,  339 
Limerick:  sieges  of  (1651),  126;  (1690), 

144;   (1691),  153 
Limerick,  Treaty  of  (1691),  153 
Lindisfarne,  Monastery  of:  founded,  36 
Literature :   among  the  ancient   Irish,  6 
Livingstone,      Sir      Alexander :      claims 
guardianship  of  James  II  of  Scot- 
land, 293 
Loch  Garry:  battle  of  (1655),  344 
Lochaber:  battle  of    (1427),  291 
Loftus,    General :    in    the    Rebellion    of 

1798,  211 
London,     Treaties     of:      (1543),     305; 

(1641),  339 
Lords  of  the  Congregation:   organized, 

312 
Lome,    Irish    chief:    leads    colonists    to 

Scotland,  38 
Loudon,  Lord :   sent  to  the  Tower,  338 
Lough   Sevilly:  battle  of    (1798),  214 
Lucas,   Charles :   leader   of  the   Popular 

Party,  173 
Lundy,  Colonel:  takes  oath  of  allegiance 

to  William  and  Mary.  133 
Luttrell,  Henry,  Lord  Carhampton:  sent 

to  Connaught,  206 
Lyndesay,  Sir  David :  sketch  of,  309 


M 


Mac  Art,  Connac,  King  of  Ireland : 
legend  of,  25 

Macbeth,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 
256 

McCarthy,  Justin  Huntley :  leads  anti- 
Parnellite  majority,  242  note 

McCracken,  Henry  Joy:  in  the  Rebel- 
lion of  1798,  213 


MacDonald,  Flora:  saves  the  Young 
Pretender  from  capture,  368 

Mac  Dunlevy,  Prince  of  Ulidia:  at- 
tacks Sir  John  de  Courcy,  53 

MacErc,  Fergus:  leads  Scots  to  Scot- 
land, 251 

Mac  Geoghegan :  attempts  to  defend 
Dunboy,   102 

Mac  Gilla,  Patrick,  King  of  Ossory:  at 
war  with  the  Dermot  MacMurrogh, 

49 

Mac    Kelleher,    Mailmurry:    writes    the 

"  Book  of  the  Dun  Cow,"  7 
Mac  Mahon,  Brian :  treason  of,  102 
MacMurrogh,  Dermot,  King  of  Leinster : 

reign  of,  48 
Mac  Nally,  Leonard :  sketch  of,  202 
MacNevin,  William  J. :  joins  the  United 

Irishmen,  207 
Mac  Turkill,  Hasculf,  King  of  Dublin: 

submits    to    Dermot    MacMurrogh, 

49 

Magnus  Barfod,  King  of  Norway:  reign 
of,  261 

Maid  of  Norway:  see  Margaret,  Queen 
of  Scotland 

Mailnora,  King  of  Leinster:  joins  the 
Danes,  41 

Mainmoy,  Conor,  King  of  Connaught: 
opposes  progress  of  DeCourcy,  55 

IMaitland  of  Lethington,  William:  re- 
fuses England's  demand  for  hom- 
age from  Scotland,  320 

Malachi  I,  King  of  Ireland :  defeats  the 
Danes,  39 

Malachi  II,  King  of  Ireland:   reign  of, 

41 
Malbie,   Captain :   at  battle  of  Aughrim, 

104 
Malcolm  I,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 

255 

Malcolm  II,  King  of  Scotland :  reign  of, 
256 

Malcolm  (III)  Canmore,  King  of  Scot- 
land :  reign  of,  257 

Malcolm  IV,  King  of  Scotland :  reign 
of,  265 

Malone,  Anthony :  leader  of  the  Popular 
Party,  173 

Manchester  Martyrs,  The,  235 

Manners  and  Customs :  in  ancient  Ire- 
land, 12 

Mar,    Alexander    Stuart,    Earl    of:    his 


896 


INDEX 


campaign  against  Donald,  Lord  of 

the  Isles,  289 
Mar,  James  Stuart,  Earl  of:  opposes  the 

Congregation,  312;   created   Earl   of 

Mar,  314 
Mar,  John  Erskine,  Earl  of   (d.   1572)  : 

made  regent  of  Scotland,  322 
Mar,  John  Erskine,  Earl  of  (1675-1732), 

revolt  of,  361 
March,  George  Dunbar,  Earl  of:  sketch 

of,  288;  deprived  of  his  estates,  292 
Margaret,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  Queen 

of  Scotland:  reign  of,  271 
Margaret,  sister  of  Eadgar  the  ^Etheling: 

marries  Malcolm  Canmore  of  Scot- 
land, 258 
Margaret,    daughter    of    Henry    III    of 

England :  marries  Alexander  III  of 

Scotland,  268 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Christian  of  Nor- 
way :  marries  James  III  of  Scotland, 

296 
Margaret    Tudor,    daughter    of    Henry 

VII  of  England :  marries  James  IV 

of  Scotland,  299 
Marlborough,  John  Churchill,  Duke  of: 

his  campaign  in  Ireland,  149 
Marshal,  Richard :  sketch  of,  57 
Marshal,  William :  his  feud  with  Hugh 

de  Lacy,  57 
Marston  Moor:  battle  of   (1644),  339 
Mary    (I)    Tudor,    Queen   of   England: 

condition  of  Ireland  under,  85 ;  her 

relations   with    the   English   church, 

311 
Mary  II,  Queen  of  England:  accession 

of,  132,  351 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots :  reign  of,  305 ;  ab- 
dication    of,     318;     imprisoned     by 

Elizabeth  of  England,  319 
I^Iary    of    Loraine :    made   guardian    for 

Alary    Queen   of    Scots,   305;    made 

regent,  307 
jVIatilda,  queen  of  Henry  I  of  England : 

marriage  of,  261 
Alathew,     Theobald :     leads    temperance 

movement  in  Ireland,  225 
Maumont,   General :    at   siege   of  Derry, 

135 
?vlaupas,  Sir  John :  slays  Edward  Bruce, 

61 
Maynooth:  siege  of   (1535),  80 
Alaynooth,  College  of:  founded,  204 


Meagher,  Thomas  Francis:  sketch  of, 
229;  later  career  of,  232 

Meath,  War  of,  57 

Melville,  Andrew:  draws  up  the  Second 
Book  of  Discipline,  326 

Melville,  Sir  James :  sketch  of,  331 

Mile  Act   (1662),  346 

Milesians:  settle  in  Ireland,  24 

Mill,  John  Stuart :  pleads  for  the  Man- 
chester  Martyrs,   235 

Mill,  Walter:  martyrdom  of,  312 

Mitchell,  John :  leader  of  Young  Ire- 
land Party,  227;  sketch  of,  229; 
founds  The  United  Irishman,  231 ; 
later  career  of,  232 

Mitton,  Chapter  of:  battle  of  (1319),  282 

Molyneux,  William :  leader  of  Parlia- 
mentary struggles,  170 

Monk  (Monck),  George:  his  campaign 
in  Scotland,  343 ;  restores  Charles 
II  of  England,  344 

Monmouth,  James,  Duke  of :  his  cam- 
paign in  Scotland,  348;  rebellion  of, 
350 

Montrose,  James  Graham,  Earl  of: 
leader  of  the  Covenanters,  337; 
death  of,  342 

Monro,  General:  leader  of  the  Irish 
Protestants,  118 

Moore,  Sir  Garrett:  his  mission  to  Hugh 
O'Neill,  106 

!Moore,  Thomas :  effect  of  his  writings 
on  Catholic  emancipation,  222 

Moray,  Randolf,  Earl  of:  created  earl, 
282 ;  made  regent  of  Scotland,  285 

Morgan,  General :  his  campaigns  in  the 
Highlands,  344 

Morley  Act  (1896),  242  note 

Mortimer,  Roger,  Earl  of  March :  his 
career  in  Ireland,  68 

Morton,  James  Douglas,  Earl  of:  con- 
cerned in  murder  of  Rizzio,  316; 
sponsor  for  James  VI  of  Scotland, 
318;  made  regent,  323 

Mountjoy,  Charles  Blount,  Lord :  made 
governor  of  Ireland,  lOO 

Mulr,  Thomas :  sentenced  to  transporta- 
tion, 371 

Munro,  Henry:  in  the  Rebellion  of  1798, 
213 

Murphy,  John:  leads  rebels,  210;  death 
of,  213 

Murphy,  Michael:  death  of,  212 


INDEX 


397 


Murray:  leader  of  the  defense  of  Derry, 

135 
Murrogh:  at  battle  of  Clontarf,  43 


N 


Napier  of  Merchiston,  John:  sketch  of, 

358 
Navigation  Act   (1660),  344 
Nemed :  leads  colonists  to  Ireland,  23 
New  Ross:  battle  of  (1798),  211 
Newark,  England:  siege  of   (1645),  340 
Newburn:  battle  of   (1640),  339 
Newcastle:  siege  of   (1644),  339 
Newtownbarry :  battles  of   (1798),  211; 

(1831),  224 
Newtownbntler :  battle  of  '(1689),  140 
Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  King  of  Ire- 
land :  reign  of,  25 
Norris,  Sir  Thomas  :  fails  to  crush  Mun- 

ster  rebellion,  97 
North,    Frederick,    Lord    North :    intro- 
duces  propositions   to   relieve    Irish 
trade,  184 
North  Inch  of  Perth:  battle  of  (1400), 

287 
Northallerton:  battle  of  (1138),  26^ 
Northampton,  Treaty  of  (1328),  283 
Northmen:    invade   Scotland,   254 
Nova  Scotia :  settlement  of,  334 
Nugent,  General :  in  Rebellion  of  1798, 
213 


O 


O'Brien,  Donall,  King  of  Thomond :  op- 
poses progress  of  De  Courcy,  55 
O'Brien,  Earl  of  Thomond :  made  earl, 

O'Brien,  James  F.  X. :  sketch  of,  236 

O'Brien,  William  Smith :  leader  of 
Young  Ireland  Party,  230;  leads  re- 
bellion, 231;  death  of,  232 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  called  "  The  Liber- 
ator " :  career  of,  220 ;  death  of,  227 

O'Connolly,   Owen:   treason  of,   115 

O'Connor,  Arthur:  joins  the  United 
Irishmen,  207 

O'Conor,  Charles :  assumes  leadership  of 
Catholic  movement,  173 

O'Conor,  Felim,  King  of  Connaught : 
reign  of,  58 


O'Conor,    Roderick,    King   of    Ireland: 

reign  of,  46 
O'Donnell,    Godfrey:    defeats    Maurice 

Fitzgerald,  58 
O'Donnell,  Hugh :  career  of,  94 
O'Donnell,    Rory:    submits    to    English, 

106 
O'Moore,  Owney:  joins  the  rebellion  of 

Hugh  O'Neill,  100 
O'Moore,  Rory:  leads  Rebellion  of  1641, 

114 

O'Mulconry:  aids  in  compilation  of  the 

"  Annals,"  7 
O'Neill,  Brien :  at  battle  of  Downpatrick, 

58 
O'Neill,   Conn,    Earl   of   Tyrone:   made 

earl,  83 
O'Neill,  Donall:  joins  Edward  Bruce,  59 
O'Neill,  Hugh:  rebellion  of,  94 
O'Neill,    Hugh,    nephew    of    Owen    Roe 

O'Neill :  defends  Clonmel,  125 ;  de- 
fends Limerick,  126 
O'Neill,  Matthew :  made  Baron  of  Dun- 

gannon,     83 ;     claims     earldom     of 

Tyrone,  87 
O'Neill,  Owen  Roe :  leads  Rebellion  of 

1641,    114;    takes    command    of    the 

army,  119;  death  of,  125 
O'Neill,  Sir  Phelim :  leads  Rebellion  of 

1641,   114;   death  of,   126 
O'Neill,  Shane :  rebellion  of,  87 
O'Reilly,  John  Boyle :  sketch  of,  236 
O'Rourke,   Tergnan,    Prince   of    Brefni: 

at  war  with  Dermot  MacMurrogh, 

O'Sullivan,  Donall :  in  the  Rebellion  of 
Hugh  O'Neill,  103 

O'Toole,  Laurence,  Archbishop  of  Dub- 
lin :  preaches  against  the  English,  50 

Octennial   Bill    (1767),    177 

Olioll,  King  of  Leinster :  conversion  of, 

30 

Ollamh  Fodla  [Ollav  Fola],  King  of 
Ireland :  institutes  the  Fes  of  Tara, 
25 

Orangemen,  Society  of:  formed,  205 

Orde,  Thomas :  introduces  a  reform 
bill,  193 

Ormond,  James  Butler,  Duke  of:  made 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  120;  con- 
dition of  Ireland  under  his  rule,  131 

Ormond,  Thomas  Butler,  Earl  of:  his 
campaign  against  the  Geraldines,  90 


398 


INDEX 


Oswald,  King  of  Northumberland:  aids 
progress  of  Christianity  among  his 
people,  253 

Oswin,  King  of  Northumberland:  ex- 
tends his  kingdom,  253 

Otterburn,   Raid  of    (1388),  287 

Oulart,  Hill  of:  battle  of  (1798),  210 


P,  Q 

Palladius:  sent  as  bishop  to  Ireland,  27 

Palmer,  Fyshe:  sentenced  to  transporta- 
tion, 371 

Parliament,   Grattan's    (1783),   190 

Parnell,  Charles  Stewart:  sketch  of, 
237;  death  of,  240 

Parnell,  Sir  John :  opposes  Union,  215 

Parsons,  Sir  William :  attempts  to 
crush  Rebellion  of  1641,  115 

Parthalon :  leads  colonists  to  Ireland,  23 

Paterson,  William :  plans  settlement  on 
the  Isthmus   of  Darien,  354 

Patrick,  Saint :  career  of,  27 

Paullinus,  Bishop  of  York:  converts 
Eadwine  of  England,  253 

Peel,  Sir  Robert :  favors  Catholic  eman- 
cipation, 222 

Peep-o'-day  Boys,  196 

Pelham :  his  campaign  against  the  Ger- 
aldines,  90 

Penal  Laws,  The,  157 

Percy,  Sir  Henry,  surnamed  Hotspur : 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Scots,  287 

Perrott,  John :  lord  deputy  of  Ireland,  94 

Philip  IV,  King  of  France :  forms  alli- 
ance with  John  Balliol,  273 

Philiphaugh:  battle  of   (1644),  340 

Phcenix  Park  Murders,  239 

Picts  :  sketch  of,  248 

Pinkie:  battle  of   (1547),  306 

Pitt,  William,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Chat- 
ham :  his  Irish  bill,  193 ;  plans  union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
215 

Plantations  in  Ireland :   system  of,  91 

Piatt :  challenges  the  Irish  army,  43 

Ponsonby:  supports  free  trade  move- 
ment,   183 

Porteous  Affair,  The,  365 

Portmore:  siege  of   (1597),  96 

Poynings,  Edward :  made  lord  deputy  of 
Ireland,  t:^, 


Poynings'  Law   (1494),  74 

Prendergast,  Maurice:  his  career  in  Ire- 
land, 49 

Preston:  battle  of  (1648),  341 

Preston,  Colonel:  joins  the  Catholic 
party  in  Ireland,  119 

Preston  Pans:  battle  of  (1745),  367 

Protestant  Boys,  196 

Queensbury,  Duke  of:  promotes  union 
of  Scotland  and  England,  356 


R 


Radcliffe,  Charles:  death  of,  369 
Raleigh,    Sir   Walter:    lives    in    Ireland, 

93 

Randolf,  Earl  of  Moray:  see  Moray, 
Randolf,  Earl  of 

Rebellion  of  1641,  The,  114 

Rebellion  of  1798,  The,  209 

Redmond,  John :  assumes  leadership  of 
Home  Rule  party,  242 

Reformation,  The,  311 

Religion:  in  ancient  Ireland,  16;  progress 
under  St.  Patrick,  31 

Renunciation,  Act  of  (1783),  189 

Repeal,  Act  of   (1782),  188 

Repeal  Association:  founded,  225 

Reseby,  John :  martyrdom  of,  290 

Restoration,  The :  effect  on  Ireland,  129 

Revolution,  War  of  the,   132 

Reynolds,  Thomas :  betrays  plot  for  re- 
bellion, 209 

Richard  (I)  Cceur  de  Lion,  King  of 
England :  releases  Scottish  king 
from  homage,  266 

Richard  II,  King  of  England :  condition 
of  Ireland  under,  67;  made  lord 
lieutenant  of  Ireland,  69 ;  his  rela- 
tions with  Scotland,  286 

Richard  Strongbow :  see  Clare,  Richard 
de 

Rightboys,  196 

Rinuccini,  Baptist :  sent  as  Papal  nuncio 
to  Ireland,  120 

Rizzio,  David :  his  relations  with  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  315 

Robert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland:  joins 
Wallace's  rebellion,  275 ;  leads  re- 
volt against  England,  277;  invades 
Ireland,  60 


INDEX 


399 


Robert  II,  King  of  Scotland:  becomes 
regent  of  Scotland,  285 ;  accession 
of,  286 

Robert  (John)  III,  King  of  Scotland: 
reign  of,  287 

Robert,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews: 
consecrated,   262 

Roe,  Pierce:  made  lord  deputy  of  Ire- 
land, 'J^ 

Roland,  nephew  of  William  the  Lion  of 
Scotland :  subdues  Galway,  267 

Romans :  invade  Scotland,  249 

Rosen,  Marshal :  at  siege  of  Derry,  137 

Roses,  War  of  the,  70 

Rothesay,  David,  Duke  of:  regent  of 
Scotland,  287 

Rotunda  Bill  (1783),  192 

Rowan,  Alexander  Hamilton :  his  labors 
in  behalf  of  Catholic  emancipation, 
201 

Roxburgh:  siege  of  (1460),  296 

Ruthven,  Lord :  concerned  in  the  mur- 
der of  Rizzio,  316 

Ruthven,  Alexander :  attempts  to  hold 
Tames  VI  as  a  prisoner,  328 


Saintfield:  battle  of  (1798),  213 

St.  Leger,  Sir  Anthony:  lord  deputy  of 

Ireland,     83 ;     preaches     Protestant 

doctrines  in  Ireland,  85 
St.    Leger,    Sir    William :    his   campaign 

against  the  Irish  rebels,  116 
St.  Ruth,  Lieutenant  General :  his  cam- 
paign in  Ireland,   150 
Sanquhar  Declaration  (1669),  348 
Saratoga:  battle  of  (1777),  181 
Sarsfield,   Patrick :   at  the  battle  of  the 

Boyne,  143 ;  at  the  siege  of  Limerick, 

144;  signs  Treaty  of  Limerick,  153; 

death  of,  154 
Sauchieburn:  battle  of  (1488),  298 
Schomberg,    Friedrich    von    Schomberg, 

Duke   of :   his   campaign   in   Ireland, 

141 ;  death  of,  142 
Scone,  Monastery  of :  founded,  262 
Scot,  Michael :  sketch  of,  269 
Scotland,  History  of :  the  Gaelic  period, 

247;      the      English      period,      261; 

struggle  for  independence,  271 ;  the 


Independent     kingdoms,     282;     the 
Jameses,  291;  the  Reformation,  311; 
the  union  of  the  crowns,  332;  dis- 
content with  the  union,  360 
Scots:  sketch  of,  248 
Seabury,  Samuel :  consecrated,  372 
Settlement,  Act  of  (1661),  129 
Severus,  Emperor  of   Rome;   his   cam- 
paign in  Britain,  249 
Sej'mour,  Edward,   Duke  of   Somerset : 
his  campaigns  in  Scotland,  305,  306 
Sharp,    James :    made    archbishop,    344 ; 

death  of,  347 
Sheares,  Henry:  arrest  and  death  of,  209 
Sheares,  John :  arrest  and  death  of,  209 
Sheehy,  Nicholas :  trial  of,  175 
Shell,    Richard    Lalor :    his    efforts    for 

Catholic  emancipation,  220 
Sheriffmulr:  battle  of   (1715),  363 
Sigurd,    Earl    of    the    Orkneys :    made 

earl,  255 
Simnel,  Lambert:   rebellion  of,  72 
Sinnott,  David :  defends  Wexford,  124 
Sitric  of  the  Silken  Beard,  King  of  Dub- 
lin :  at  war  with  Brian  Boru,  42 
Siward,    Earl    of    Northumberland :    at 
war  with  Macbeth  of  Scotland,  257 
Sixth  of  George  I,  The    (1719),   171 
Skeffington :  besieges  Maynooth,  80 
Slavery:  abolished  in  Scotland,  370 
Smerwick:  siege  of  (1580),  90 
Solway  Moss:  battle  of  (1542),  304 
Somerset,   Edward   Seymour,   Duke  of: 
see     Seymour,    Edward,    Duke     of 
Somerset 
Spanish  Blanks,  The,  327 
"  Speckled  Book,"  7 
Spenser,  Edmund :  lives  in  Ireland,  93 
Spey:  battle  of  (1690),  353 
Spottiswood,  John,  Bishop  of  Glasgow : 

consecrated,  332 
Standard,  Battle  of  the  (1138),  264 
Stephen,  King  of  England :  his  relations 

with  Scotland,  263 
Stephens,       James :       founds        Fenian 

Brotherhood,  234 
Stirling:  battles  of  (1297),  275;   (1314), 

279;  siege  of   (1746),  367 
Stone    of  Destiny:    carried    to    London, 

274 
Strafford,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of: 
see    Wentworth    Thomas,    Earl    of 
Strafford 


400 


INDEX 


Strongbow,  Richard:  see  Clare,  Richard 
de 

Stuart,  Charles  Edward:  attempts  to 
win  English  throne,  366 

Stuart,  Esme,  Lord  of  Aubigny:  fav- 
orite of  James  VI  of  Scotland,  325 

Stuart,  Henry,  Lord  Darnley  and  Earl 
of  Ross:  marries  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  3 IS 

Stuart,  James,  Earl  of  Arran :  favorite 
of  James  VI  of  Scotland,  324 

Stuart,  James,  Earl  of  Murray:  regent 
for  James  VI  of  Scotland,  318; 
murder  of,  321 

Stuart,  James  Francis  Edward:  claims 
throne  of  England,  362 

Sulcoit:  battle  of   (ca.  975  a.d.),  40 

Sullivan,  Timothy  Daniel:  commemo- 
rates  the   Manchester   Martyrs,   235 

Sutherland,  Earl  of:  his  campaign 
against  the  Pretender,  362 

Swift,  Jonathan:  opposes  the  Court 
Party,  171 

Swinburne,  Algernon  Charles :  pleads 
for  the  Manchester  Martyrs,  235 

Sydney,  Lord :  lord  lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land, ISS 

Sydney,  Sir  Henry :  attempts  to  restore 
peace  among  the  natives  of  Ireland, 


Talbot,    Richard,     Earl    of    Tirconnell: 
made  commander  of  forces  in  Ire- 
land, 131 
Talbot,    Sir    John:    his    government    of 

Ireland,  69 
Tandy,  James  Napper :  secretary  of  the 

Society  of  United  Irishmen,  198 
Tara :    battles    of    (ca.    450    a.d.),    38; 

(979  A.D.),  41 
Teeling,  Bartholomew:  death  of,  214 
Telford,  Thomas :  sketch  of,  375 
Theodosius,    Roman    general :    his    cam- 
paign in   Britain,   250 
Thorstein,  Earl  of  the  Orkneys :  harasses 

Scotland,  255 
Three  F's  Act   (1870),  239  note 
Three  Rocks:  battle  of  (1798),  211 
Tippermuir:  battle  of  (1644),  340 
Tithe   War,  224 


Tone,  Matthew :  death  of,  214 

Tone,  Theobald  Wolfe:  sketch  of,  198; 

plans    French    invasion   of    Ireland, 

207;  death  of,  214 
Townshend,   Lord :    succeeds   in   getting 

the  bog  act  for  Catholics  passed,  178 
Trot  of  Turriff:  battle  of  (1639),  337 
Tuillibardine,  Marquis  of:  his  campaign 

in  Scotland,  365 
Turgesius :  leads  invasion  of  Danes  into 

Ireland,  39 
Turgot,    Archbishop    of    St.    Andrews : 

consecrated,  262 
Turner,  Sir  James :  his  campaign  against 

Scottish  conventicles,  346 
Turriff,  Trot  of:  battle  of  (1639),  2^7 


U,   V 

Union,  Acts  of:  between  Ireland  and 
Great  Britain,  215;  between  Scot- 
land and  England,  343 

Union,  Treaty  of  (1707),  356 

United  Irishmen,  Society  of:  founded, 
198 

Urbicus,  Lollius :  his  campaign  against 
the  Picts,  249 

Venables,  Colonel :  his  campaign  in  Ire- 
land, 125 

Verneuil:   battle   of    (1424),  289 

Veto  Act   (1834),  373 

Vinegar  Hill:  battle  of  (1798),  212 

Volunteer  Movement  (1778),  182 


W 


Wade,  General :  his  campaign  in  Scot- 
land, 365 

Walker,  George :  leader  of  the  defense 
of  Derry,    135 

Wallace,  William:  revolts  against  Eng- 
land, 275;  death  of,  276 

Walter,  John :  death  of,  73 

Warbeck,    Perkin :    rebellion   of,   73,   298 

Wardlaw,  Henry:  founds  university  at 
St.  Andrews,  290 

Warren,  Sir  John  Borlase :  at  battle  of 
Lough  Swilly,  214 


INDEX 


401 


Waterford:  siege  of  (1170),  50 
Welch,  John :  sketch  of,  358 
Wellington,  Arthur  Wellesley,  Duke  of: 

favors  Catholic  emancipation,  222 
Welsh :  sketch  of,  248 
Wentworth,  Thomas,  Earl  of  StrafTord : 

made    lord    lieutenant    of    Ireland, 

III ;  death  of,  113 
Wexford:  sieges  of  (1169),  49;  (1649), 

124 
Whiggamore's  Raid    (1648),  341 
Whiteboys :  sketch  of,  175 
William    (I)    the    Conqueror,    King    of 

England :   his  conquest  of  England, 

257 
William  (II)   Rufus,  King  of  England: 

his  relations  with  Scotland,  258 
William  (III)  of  Orange,  King  of  Eng- 
land:   accession    of,    132,    350;    his 

campaign  in  Ireland,  141 
William    the    Lion,    King   of    Scotland : 

reign  of,  266 
Williams,    Captain :    defends    Portmore, 

96 
Wilton,  Lord  Arthur  Grey  of:  see  Grey 

of  Wilton,  Lord  Arthur 


Winter,  Jan  Willem  de :  commands  ex- 
pedition for  invasion  of  Ireland,  208 
Wishart,   George:   martyrdom  of,  307 
Wolsey,     Thomas :     attempts     to    crush 

French  influence  in  Scotland,  302 
Wood's  Halfpence,   172 
Worcester:  battle  of  (1651),  343 
Wreckers,   196 

Wyndham,    George :    introduces    a    bill 
creating  a  commission  to  buy  Irish 
estates,  242 
V/yntoun,  Andrew :  sketch  of,  290 
Wyse :    assumes    leadership   of    Catholic 
movement,  173 


X,  Y,  Z 

"  Yellow  Book  of  Lecan,"  7 
Yellow  Ford:  battle  of  (1598),  96 
Yelverton,    Barry :    proposes    repeal    of 
Poynings'  Act,  186;  opposes  the  Ro- 
tunda Bill,  192 
Young  Ireland   Movement,  The,  228 
Young  Ireland   Party:  founded,  226 


*S  2  3  * 


